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Brittan,    Thomas    s. 

i-rotestant    Episcopal 


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in  2009  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Tiieological  Seminary  Library 


littp://www.archive.org/details/apologyforconforOObrit 


AN 


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APOLOGY 


FOR 


CONFORMING 


TO  THE 


PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH, 

CONTAINED  IN 

A  SERIES  OF  LETTERS 

ADDRESSED  TO  THE 

RIGHT  REVEREND  BENJAMIN  T.  ONDERDONK.  D.  D. 

BISHOP  OF  THE  DIOCESE  OF  NEW-TORK. 


BY  THOMAS  S.  BRITTAN. 


Be  ready  always  to  give  an  answer  to  every  man  that  asketh  joo 
a  reason  cf  the  hope  that  is  in  yon,  with  nicekness  and  fear. 

St.  Pstsr. 


SECOND  EDITION,  WITH  ADIJITIONS. 


NEW-YORK. 


PVISLISHED  BY  SWORDS,  STANFORD,  AND  CO. 

No.  152  Broadway. 
1833. 


^>i^;.>» 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1833,  by 
Thomas  S.  BRiTTArf,'in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court 
of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern  District  of  New -York. 


TO 

THE  RIGHT  REVEREND 
BENJAMIN    T.  ONDERDONK,    D.  D. 

BISHOP  OF  THE  DIOCESE  OF  NEW-YORK, 

THIS   VOLUME, 

CONSISTING  OF  LETTERS,  FIRST  ADDRESSED  TO  IIIM, 
IS  NOW,  BY  HIS  PERMISSION 


DEDICATED 


vmi{  EVERY  SENTIMENT  OP  ESTEEM  AND  RESPECT, 

BY  HIS  OBLIGED, 

OBBDIENT, 

HUMBLE  SERVANT, 

THE  AUTHOR, 


PREFACE. 


The  author  of  the  following  pages  having  been  informed 
by  his  publishers,  that  all  the  former  copies  have  been 
disposed  of,    and  that    the   still   continued  demand  for 
more  renders  a  reprint  of  the  work  necessary,  is  un- 
willing to  send  forth  the  second  edition  without  some 
prefatory  remarks.     He  does  not,  however,  design  this 
advertisement  to  partake  of  the  nature  of  an  excuse  for 
what  he  has  done,  but  of  an  explanation.     If  the  book 
be  good,  any  pleas  in  favour  of  it  are  unnecessary.     If 
it  be  bad,  they  would  not  only  be  unmerited  but  decep- 
tive.    Every  writer  who  sends  forth  a  work  into  the 
world,  does  so,  because,  in  his  production,  he  sees  some- 
thing which  he  considers  to  be  of  value  and  importance 
to  his  fellow-men ;  so  that  whatever  professions  of  hu- 
mility he  may  make  in  words,  his  act  in  the  publication 
evinces  some  complacency  in   his   performance,  some 
consciousness  in  his  own  ability  to  communicate  infor- 
mation to  others.     The  very  production  of  the  book  sets 
at  nought  all  his  professions  of  inability  and  avowals  of 
incapacity,  and  induces  the  reader  to  adopt  the  sarcasm 
of  Dr.  Johnson — "  If  the  book  were  not  written  to  be 
printed,  I  presume  it  was  printed  to  be  read." 

It  ought  not  to  be  dissembled,  that  the  author  has  been 
sedulous  to  ascertain  what  particular  objections  have 
been  raised  to  his  work,  that,  if  possible,  he  might 


VI  PREFACE. 

obviate  them,  and  thus  give  confirmation  where  doubts 
were  entertained.  He  has  found  that  some  persons  who 
have  honoured  this  little  performance  with  their  perusal, 
have  suggested  that  the  work  might  be  somewhat  detri- 
mental to  the  interests  of  piety,  inasmuch  as  it  might 
arouse  a  spirit  of  discord  and  division,  which  it  ought 
rather  to  be  the  aim  of  a  Christian  to  allay — that  it  was 
altogether  uncalled  for,  as  works  so  much  larger,  and 
containing  so  much  more  information,  were  extant  upon 
the  subject;  and  some  have  intimated  that  it  did  not 
tend  to  the  honour  of  the  author,  that  he  so  long  delayed 
before  he  concluded  on  becoming  an  Episcopalian. 

To  these  observations  the  writer  begs  leave  to  reply, 
that  however  much  he  may  feel  averse  to  enter  upon 
the  barren  field  of  controversy;  and  although  he  con- 
siders a  holy  and  consistent  life  to  be  of  infinitely  more 
value  than  the  most  ingenious  but  vain  disputations ; 
nay — although  he  considers  the  exercise  of  Christian 
charity  to  be  of  far  greater  value  to  the  Church,  as  well 
as  more  acceptable  to  God,  than  all  the  ponderous  and 
musty  folios  which  the  groaning  shelves  of  polemick 
divinity  ever  bore  ;  yet  he  never  can  regard  truth  as  of 
but  little  moment.  The  wisest  of  men  enjoins  it  upon 
us,  to  "  huy  the  truth,  and  sell  it  not^  It  is  only  lati- 
tudinarianism,  and  not  charity,  which  will  sacrifice  it. 
"  Christianity  is,"  as  Dr.  Doddridge  entitled  it,  "  a  re- 
ligion of  argument."  The  duty  of  every  Christian  is  to 
uphold  the  truth  and  to  suppress  error ;  hence  the 
Scriptures  abound  with  injunctions  to  contend  earnestly 
for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints.  A.  firm,  manly, 
and  benevolent  defence  of  sacred  truth,  instead  of  being 
opposed  to  Christian  charity,  is  always  associated  with 
it.  St.  John  was  of  all  the  apostles  the  most  remarkable 
for  the  amiable  grace  of  charity  ;  none  evinced  greater 
gentleness  of  disposition,  yet  none  was  more  firm  and 


PREFACE.  VU 

intrepid,  as  his  epistles  show,  in  opposition  of  heresies. 
If  it  do  not  argue  treason  to  his  Master,  it  evinces  at 
least  disgraceful  pusillanimity,  when  a  professed  disciple 
can  be  indifferent  to  any  portion  of  revealed  truth.  His 
duty  is  to  have  an  impartial  respect  to  the  divine  will. 
If  he  do  not  regard  it  universally^  he  has  no  reason  to 
conclude  that  he  regards  any  portion  of  it  sincerely. 

It  is  readily  admitted,  that  a  plain  and  honest  exhibi- 
tion of  truth  may  awaken  hostility — that  it  may  lay  open 
an  arena,  upon  which  furious  and  unhallowed  spirits  may 
come  forth  to  strujijyle.  But  are  we  to  abstain  from  our 
duty  because  evil  persons  may  make  that  duty  the  occasion 
for  indulging  in  sin'?  As  well  might  we  wish  to  prevent 
the  sun  from  shining,  because,  whilst  he  diffuses  light  and 
fertility,  health  and  joy,  upon  other  parts  of  creation,  his 
beams  serve  to  invigorate  the  noxious  plant,  the  poisonous 
serpent,  or  the  loathsome  toad  ;  or  as  well  might  we 
wish  to  suppress  the  faithful  exhibitions  of  the  divine 
clemency,  because,  whilst  some  are  thereby  led  to  re- 
pentance, others  are  hardened^  and  have  their  hearts 
toholly  set  in  them  to  do  evil.  Every  real  Ciiristian 
will  remember,  tliat  whilst  he  is  charitable  he  has  also 
to  be  zealous;  that  whilst  he  ought  not  willingly  to  offend, 
he  must  be  faithful:  that  duty  is  his,  that  events  are 
God's. 

If  then  with  some  it  be  admitted  that  a  certain  mode 
of  government  is  not  absolutely  necessary  to  the  being 
of  a  Church,  it  must  be  maintained  that  it  is  essential 
to  its  well-being.  If  one  mode  of  government  be  more 
conducive  to  its  welfare,  more  apestolick,  more  scriptural 
than  another,  then  it  is  our  duty  to  enlist  ourselves  under 
the  one  which  possesses  these  characteristick  features; 
and  it  is  evident  that,  amidst  so  many  conflicting  parties, 
all  cannot  be  right.  If  one  be  consistent,  the  others 
must  be  wrong.     Nor  is  this  a  subject  of  inferior  moment. 


VUl  PREFACE. 

since  scriptural  discipline  and  orthodox  doctrine  will 
ever  march  hand  in  hand ;  and  because  one  may  be  of 
more  importance  than  the  other,  they  ought  not  to  be 
dissociated,  since  they  mutually  strengthen,  support, 
and  establish  each  other — attention  to  the  one  should 
not  beget  indifference  to  the  other.  A  skilful  engineer 
will  defend  the  outworks  of  his  fortification,  as  well  as 
strengthen  and  maintain  his  citadel.  Our  Lord  did  not 
censure  the  Jews  for  their  punctilious  observance  of 
minute  ceremonies,  but  for  their  unconcern  about  the 
greater ;  not  for  tithing  their  mint,  and  cummin,  and 
anise,  but  for  neglecting  the  weightier  matters  of  the 
law  ;  these,  said  he,  should  you  have  done,  and  not  have 
left  the  other  undone. 

If,  then,  the  mode  of  Church  government  be  of  moment 
to  its  icell-hcing,  it  becomes  every  Christian  seriously  to 
inquire,  which,  amongst  all  the  professed  Churches  of 
our  Redeemer,  most  closely  corresponds  with  his  institu- 
tion.    Not  to  do  so,  is  to  act  irrationally;  it  is  not  to 
employ  aright  the  intellect  which  God  has  given  for  this 
very  purpose ;   it  is  to  imitate  those  insensate  animals 
from  which  we  are  distinguished  by  the  faculty  of  reason. 
That  man  would  be  accounted  as  little  better  than  an 
idiot,    who   would   purchase    without   examination,    as 
genuine   diamonds,  all  or  any  stones  which  might  be 
offered  to  him,  merely  because  they  should  possess  some 
brilliancy;   and  surely  that  individual   cannot  well  be 
deemed  as  more  wise,  who  should  blindly,  or  without 
serious  examination,  adopt  all  the  sentiments  presented 
to  him  upon  the  point  in  question. 

-  An  inspired  apostle  admonishes  us  to  prove  all  things, 
and  to  holdfast  that  which  is  good.  And  if  (as  the 
writer  is  fully  convinced  it  is)  the  mode  of  Church 
government  be  a  point  of  essential  moment  to  the  well- 
heing  of  the  Christian  Church,  then  can  it  never   be 


PREFACE.  11 

wrong  to  discuss  the  subject  whilst  it  is  done  in  a  temper 
of  meekness;  rather  so  to  do  becomes  our  imperative 
duty.  Nor  should  any  man  be  deterred  from  carrying 
his  torch  into  a  darksome  cavern  to  enlighten  his  fellow 
to  escape  from  his  confinement,  because  the  exhibition 
of  such  light  might  arouse  the  bats  and  birds  of  night  who 
had  nestled  there,  and  bring  them  forth  to  surround  him 
with  angry  flappings  of  their  wings,  and  noisy  clamours 
at  their  being  disturbed.  He  who  loves  light  himself, 
will  be  ever  impelled  by  benevolence  and  gratitude  to 
communicate  it  to  others. 

Nor  does  the  existence  of  works,  far  more  profound 
in  literature  and  more  extensive  in  information,  render 
one  of  inferior  mom'ent  needless;  for,  besides  that  there 
are  multitudes  who  cannot  avail  themselves  of  such 
works,  and  besides  that  all  men  are  Athenians  in  dispo- 
sition, desiring  to  hear  or  to  tell  some  new  thing;  besides 
these  things,  each  man  has  his  own  peculiar  taste,  tone 
of  mind,  and  habit  of  thinking;  so  that  the  style  and 
method  of  one  man,  though  inferior  to  that  of  another, 
may  be  much  more  suitable  to  one  class  of  people.  And 
it  is  not  superiority  of  talent  that  alwa^^s  succeeds — adap- 
tation is  often  more  effective.  All  cannot  be  generals  or 
captains  in  an  army,  but  the  efforts  of  the  humblest 
soldier  contribute,  as  well  as  those  of  the  commander,  to 
secure  the  victory.  The  light  infantry  are  sometimes 
able  to  accomplish  that  which  artillery  of  the  weightiest 
caliber  would  have  attempted  in  vain  ;  so  works  in  them- 
selves of  small  value,  contribute  to  the  diffusion  of  know- 
ledge or  excitement  of  inquiry,  where  those  which  are 
larger  and  more  valuable  would  produce  no  effect.  To 
this  it  may  be  added,  that  to  cause  lasting  impression 
upon  the  mind,  the  same  subject  must  be  reiterated  with 
frequency,  the  mind  must  be  stirred  up  hy  way  of 
rememhrancc^  and  sometimes  only  incidentally  or  in  a 


I  PREFACE. 

less  degree.  Seldom  is  any  operation  of  considerable 
magnitude  accomplished  by  a  single  effort,  however 
mighty  that  effort  may  be ;  but  by  the  steady,  patient, 
incessant  repetition  of  the  handy-work  of  the  humble 
mechanick.  It  is  not  the  immensely  heavy  bank  bill 
safely  lodged  in  the  chest  of  some  opulent  merchant  that 
enriches  society,  but  the  smaller  and  less  valuable  notes 
which  are  in  constant  circulation.  If,  then,  the  author 
has  condensed  into  a  small  compass  the  leading  argu- 
ments upon  the  subject;  if  he  has  written  in  such  a  way 
as  to  attract  the  attention  of  persons  to  a  matter  upon 
which  they  had  never  seriously  thought  before;  or  if  he 
be  only  the  instrument  thereby  of  leading  them  to  search 
for  themselves  upon  it — he  will  conclude  that  he  has  not 
written  in  vain;  he  will  account  himself  happy  to  stand 
as  a  humble  torch-bearer  at  the  vestibule  of  the  temple 
of  knowledge,  if  by  such  means  he  can  attract  some  to 
enter  therein,  and  to  see  for  themselves  in  its  glorious 
and  splendid  illumination. 

In  composing  this  little  book,  he  was  not  inspired  by 
the  vanity  of  thinking  that  the  Episcopal  Church  needed 
his  little  aid  to  defend  its  apostolicity,  or  that  he  could 
add  any  new  buttress  to  the  support  of  that  which  stood 
established  upon  the  basis  of  demonstration.  But  he  felt 
the  pleasure  of  a  man  wlio  has,  in  his  peregrinations,  met 
with  truth,  and  who  was  delighted  with  finding  her;  and 
as  out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart  the  mouth  will 
speak ^  so  did  he  feel  disposed  to  give  vent  to  his  plea- 
surable emotions  ;  he  was  anxious  at  once  to  show  that, 
his  alteration  of  views  was  the  result,  not  of  caprice,  but 

deliberation;  not  of  versatility,  but  of  reason  ;  and  at 
fhe  same  time  to  induce  others  to  weigh  and  examine 
the  subject  as  he  himself  had  done. 

In  fine,  he  would  observe,  that  those  who  censured 
/certainly  with  injustice)  one  person  for  having  rashlj- 


PREFACE.  XI 

and  precipitately  made  up  his  mind  in  a  few  weeks  upon 
the  subject,  sliould  never  censure  another  for  making  a 
much  longer  and  more  patient  investigation.  But  per- 
sons resolved  to  be  displeased,  will  find  fault  with  every 
thing.  '"''John  came  neither  eating  nor  drinhing,  and 
theij  said,  He  hath  a  devil.  The  Son  of  man  came 
eating  and  drinking,  and  they  say.  Behold,  a  man 
gluttonous,  and  a  icine-hibber,  a  friend  of  publicans 
and  sinners.     Jiut  Wisdom  is  justified  of  her  children. 

The  writer  admits,  that  some  years  since  he  had 
doubts  suggested  to  his  mind  upon  the  subject  of  the 
following  sheets ;  but  that,  considering  it  as  a  matter  of 
minor  importance,  at  the  same  time  labouring  under  the 
pressure  of  numerous  and  arduous  official  engagements, 
he  did  not  investiijate  it  so  closelv  as  he  is  now  convinced 
he  ought  to  have  done.  Besides,  he  felt  no  inconsidera- 
ble difficulty  in  banishing  early  prejudices,  in  disrupting 
connexions  long  since  established,  and  in  bowing  down 
his  pride  to  acknowledge  he  had  erred.  At  all  events, 
it  must  be  allowed  that  he  has  not  suddenly  and  rashly 
jumped  to  a  conclusion.  And  if  (as  some  have  done) 
any  shall  call  him  apostate,  renegade,  traitor,  and  by 
such  other  titles,  he  will  consider  them  as  employing  such 
terras  only  for  want  of  argument;  he  will  try  to  act  as 
did  Bunyan's  pilgrim,  whom  he  represented  as  meeting 
similar  treatment  from  Apollyon.  He  will  not  return 
railing  for  railing.  Should  any  opponent  arise  and  mix 
railing  with  argument,  the  author  will  allow  him  all  the 
advantage  of  the  former,  and  say,  with  one  who  was  as 
gentle  as  judicious,*  "  My  adversary's  work  consists  of 
two  parts,  railing  and  reason.  To  tiie  former  I  say 
nothing,  to  the  latter  what  follows." 

Should  it  be  objected,  that  much  more  might  have 

• 

*  Hookdr. 


Xll  PREFACE. 

been  said,  and  perhaps  of  more  importance,  upon  the 
various  topicks,  the  charge  will  be  readily  admitted; 
but  the  design  was  to  render  the  book  as  brief  as  possi- 
ble. The  letters  were,  in  the  first  instance,  much  longer, 
but  they  have  been  purposely  abridged,  and  this  in 
order  thai  those  who  would  not  or  could  not  read  larger 
works,  might  have  an  epitome  of  the  argument  laid 
before  them.  The  author  finds  no  language  in  which 
he  can  conclude  better  than  that  of  an  old  writer — "  If 
I  have  done  well,  and  as  is  fitting  the  story,  it  is  that 
which  I  desired ;  but  if  slenderly  and  meanly,  it  is  that 
which  I  could  attain  unto." 

New-  York,  Feb,  22,  1833. 


LETTER  I. 

INTRODUCTORY 


Right  Rev.  and  dear  Sir, 

The  great  English  moralist,  as  he  has  been 
entitled,  (Dr.  Johnson,)  lays  down,  in  one  of  his 
essays,  the  following  moral  axioms : — "  that  as 
all  error  is  meanness,  it  is  incumbent  on  every 
man  who  consults  his  own  dignity,  to  retract  it 
as  soon  as  he  discovers  it,  without  fearing  any 
censure  so  much  as  that  of  his  own  mind.  As 
justice  requires  that  all  injuries  should  be  repaired, 
it  is  the  duty  of  him  who  has  seduced  others  by 
bad  practices  or  false  notions,  to  endeavour  that 
such  as  have  adopted  his  errors,  should  know  his 
retractation;  and  that  those  who  have  learned 
vice  by  his  example,  should  by  his  example  also 
be  taught  amendment." 

These  sentiments  perfectly  accord  with  the 
dictates  of  holy  writ,  which  require  genuine  peni- 
tents to  "  bring  forth  fruits  meet  for  repentance.'''' 
They  seem  to  have  been  the  principles  by  which 
the  greatest  exemplars  of  piety  have  always  been 
influenced,  when,  after  their  wanderings,  they 
were  restored  to  their  right  minds.  And  especi- 
ally were  they  illustrated  by  the  conduct  of  the 
great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  who,  after  his  con- 
version to  the  faith,  manifested  such  zeal  as  to 

2 


14  INTRODUCTORY  LETTER. 

call  forth  the  admiring  testimony  of  his  fellow 
Christians.  "  He  ichich  persecuted  us  in  times  past  ^ 
now  preacheth  the  faith  which  once  he  destroyed  r"* 

Repentance,  then,  is  not  only  a  generous,  but  a 
magnanimous  grace  ;  it  is  a  temper  inferior  only 
to  innocency  itself.  Indeed  it  requires  greater 
courage  to  acknowledge  an  error  once  indulged 
in,  than  altogether  to  have  avoided  it.  It  is  virtue 
so  placed,  as  sometimes  to  yield  more  glory  to 
God  than  even  unoffending  excellency  could  have 
done — it  aims  at  repairing  the  dishonours  done 
to  \\\Q  divine  will — it  pays  a  voluntary  homage 
to  the  obedience  of  the  wise  and  the  good — it 
acknowledges  the  malignity  and  evil  of  trans- 
gression, and  incites,  in  spite  of  every  obstacle 
and  every  difficulty  which  the  pride  of  our  own 
hearts,  or.  the  misconduct  of  others,  might  pre- 
sent, to  make  an  open  and  artless  confession  of 
our  folly,  and  to  aim  at  reclaiming  those  who 
may  still  be  wandering. 

Under  the  influence  of  these  views,  I  sit  down 
to  make  a  voluntary  renunciation  of  the  errors 
into  which  I  have  fallen,  and  to  do  homage  to  the 
sacred  cause  of  Truth.  Conscious  that,  after 
such  an  avowal,  I  have  yet  sullicient  dignity 
remaining  to  support  my  character ;  and  feeling 
anxious  that  others  mav  be  warned  as^ainst  tl^e 
mistaken  notions  by  which  I  have  been  deceived ; 
I  would  imitate  the  very  best  and  wisest  of  men, 
in  frankly  and  ingenuously  acknowledging  that  I 
have  been  misguided;  and  that  the  deception  has 
regarded  a  subject  of  vital  importance,  being  no 
less  than  the  mode  of  government  authoritatively 
enjoined  upon  "  the  holy  Catholick  Church,"  the 
kinofdom  upon  earth  of  our  blessed  Redeemer. 

It  was  my  lot  to  have  been  educated  amongst 
that  class  of  Dissenters  who  entitle  themselves 


INTRODUCTORY  LETTER.  16 

"  Independents,"  or  "  Congregationalists."  At  a 
very  early  age  my  mind  had  imbibed  the  strongest 
and  most  obnoxious  prejudices  against  Episco- 
pacy, which,  as  1  advanced  in  years,  became  more 
deeply  rooted.  I  had  been  accustomed  to  hear 
tales  of  the  haughty  temj)er — tlie  bitter  spirit — 
the  persecuting  disposition  of  the  Anglican  Church 
— to  hear  of  the  gross  ignorance  in  spiritual  things, 
and  of  the  ungodly  lives  of  her  clergy;  so  that  I 
could  not,  in  my  mind,  dissociate  the  ideas  of 
Episcopacy  from  those  of  heresy  and  sacrilegious 
ambition.  I  had  learned  to  re2ard  the  Estab- 
lished  Church  as  the  beast  in  the  Apocalypse,  of 
which  it  is  said,  "  it  had  horns  like  a  lamb,  hut  it 
spake  like  a  dragon.'^''  I  regarded  it  as  a  system 
of  spiritual  tyranny  only — an  engine  of  state 
policy,  by  v.liich  the  tools  of  party  were  to  be 
rewarded  ;  in  fine,  as  an  iron  rod  in  the  hands  of 
bigotry,  by  wliich  it  attempted  to  crush  and 
destroy  all  who  had  the  honesty  or  the  courage 
to  think  for  themselves. 

This  prejudice,  by  a  natural  consequence, 
(strange  as  to  some  it  may  appear,)  extended 
itself  to  its  ritual,  its  ceremonies,  and  even  its 
sanctuaries ;  these  were  ci'ten  the  objects  of  my 
ridicule  and  derision.  The  oilicial  garments  of 
its  clergy,  the  formulary  of  its  devotions,  and 
even  its  most  solemn  observances,  were  regarded 
as  worse  than  unmeaning ;  as  partaking  of  the 
nature  of  an  impious  mockery  of  the  Almighty. 
J  looked  upon  its  sacred  edifices  with  much  of 
the  same  class  of  feelings  with  which  1  should 
have  regarded  a  Pagan  temple;  and  thoiigh,  in 
my  boyhood,  curiosity  led  me  sometimes  to  visit 
them,  that  1  might  gaze  upon  their  Gothick  archi- 
tecture, admire  their  painted  wiiulows,  and  feel 
what   was    imposing   in   their    structure,    whose 


16  INTRODUCTORY  LETTER. 

"  dim  religious  light"  rendered  them  so  suitable 
to  aid  devotion  ;  yet  I  always  felt  as  if  by  so  doing 
I  had  contracted  a  sort  of  guilt,  that  I  had  been 
treading  upon  forbidden  ground. 

These  sentiments  continued  till,  in  my  twentieth 
year,  I  had  become  a  student  preparing  for  the 
office  of  the  ministry.  During  the  first  year  of 
this  my  novitiate,  I  went  with  several  of  my 
compeers  to  witness  the  ordination  of  a  young 
friend  over  a  Congregational  church  in  London ; 
after  the  charge  had  been  delivered  by  one 
minister  to  the  pastor,  a  second  minister  (as  is 
the  custom,)  addressed  a  charo-e  to  the  people. 
In  the  course  of  his  sermon  he  admonished  them 
of  the  evils  of  division — lamented  the  numerous 
quarrels  and  separations  constantly  occurring  in 
their  churches — statin.2;  that  "  such  events  o-ave 
too  much  appearance  of  reason  for  the  observation 
of  an  old  bishop,  who  had  said  of  the  Dissenters, 
that  '  division  is  their  sin,  and  division  is  their 
punishment.'  " 

This  expression  struck  me  with  peculiar  force. 
I  looked  around  me,  and  saw  that  these  churches 
were  every  where  split  into  parties  and  factions. 
Subsequent  observation  has  brought  further  con- 
firmation on  the  point.  Every  where  the  ministers 
of  that  denomination  lament  the  fact ;  no  where 
is  there  a  congregation  of  them  for  any  consider- 
able time  in  a  state  of  peace.  Turbulent  spirits 
are  every  where  struggling  for  the  mastery,  and 
throwing  societies  into  a  state  of  collision  and 
confusion.  The  only  exceptions  are  those  in 
which  the  pastor,  either  by  the  weight  of  his 
property  or  the  skilfulness  of  his  policy,  can 
exercise  despotick  power.  Discipline  cannot  be 
maintained.  Few  of  these  churches  persevere 
for  any  considerable  period  in  the  doctrines  of 


INTRODUCTORY  LETTER.  17 

their  founders.  Multitudes  have  departed  from 
the  most  rigid  Calvinism,  and  gone  over  into 
Socinianism.  Their  own  histories  afford  the 
strongest  proof  of  this  assertion,  whilst  the  attempt, 
recorded  in  the  newspapers,  of  a  meeting  of  Con- 
gregational ministers  in  the  month  of  May  last, 
in  London,  to  form  what  they  called  a  Con^re- 
gational  Union,  or,  in  other  words,  a  sort  of 
Presbyterial  government  among  themselves,  af- 
fords an  incontrovertible  evidence  of  this  truth  to 
every  reflecting  mind. 

Among  this  class  of  Dissenters  I  was  ordained. 
In  the  course,  however,  of  my  ministry,  I  was 
brought  into  contact  with  some  clergymen  of  the 
Established  Church.  I  found  them  to  be  men 
not  only  of  decided  but  of  exalted  piety.  By  in- 
tercourse v.ith  them,  my  antipathies  were  softened 
— my  prejudices  were  gradually  removed — my 
mind  was  rendered  pervious  to  truth — and  I  be- 
came convinced  that  Episcopacy  was  not  the 
horrid  creature  I  had  fancied  it  to  be;  nay,  that 
a  moderate  Episcopacy  carried  with  it  all  the 
marks  of  Apostolicity ;  and  I  learned  that  a 
Church  existed  in  America  truly  Episcopal,  but 
whose  Episcopacy  was  unfettered  by  any  of  those 
trammels  which  its  union  with  the  State  had 
fastened  upon  the  Church  of  England. 

I  now  find  that  it  was  not  the  true  use,  but  the 
shameful  abuse  of  Episcopacy,  that  formerly 
excited  my  disgust;  that  this  excellent  institution, 
like  every  other  good  thing,  may  be. perverted  ; 
that,  as  the  manna  which  was  angels'  food  became, 
by  employing  it  contrary  to  the  divine  direction, 
oflensively  putrescent ;  that  as  the  brazen  serpent, 
by  whoso  sight  the  Israelites  were  healed,  had  by 
superstition  become  converted  into  an  object  of 
idolatry ;  that  as  even  the  Verv  grace  of  God  had 

2* 


18  INTRODUCTORY  LETTER. 

been  by  bad  men  turned  into  licentiousness ;  so 
Episcopacy,  the  ordinance  of  heaven,  had  been  by 
some  perverted  from  its  legitimate  use,  to  serve 
the  purposes  of  avarice  and  ambition.  But  in 
this  country  I  find  it  depurated  from  whatever  of 
extraneous  additions,  or  offensive  appendage,  it 
may  have  unhappily  contracted  in  other  lands. 
I  think  it  to  be  the  "  simplicity  that  is  in  Christ 
Jesus, ^^ 

Having  thus  introduced  the  subject,  and  fearing 
it  might  savour  somewhat  of  egotism  to  trace  the 
whole  process  of  mind  by  which  my  present  con- 
victions have  been  evolved  upon  me,  allow  me  to 
drop,  as  much  as  possible,  tlie  important  pronoun 
/,  and  to  lay  before  you,  with  as  much  succinct- 
ness as  possible,  the  reasons  which  have  enforced 
my  decision. 

But  before  I  do  this,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  say, 
that  since  my  residence  in  this  land,  I  have  care- 
fully examined  the  best  writers  of  whom  she  can 
boast  on  the  side  of  Fresbyterianism,  and  that  I 
find  them  utterly  unsatisfactory.  "  The  review 
of  the  Essays  on  Ej)iscopacy,"  whilst  discovering 
the  hand  of  a  master  and  the  mind  of  a  genius, 
has  done  nothing  whatever  toward  shaking  my 
conviction  that  prelacy  was  established  by  onr 
Lord  himself.  This  work  has  in  it  too  much  of 
the  "  esprit  de  corps,^^  and  in  it  the  author  lias 
often  iiidulged  in  that  ''  badinage^^  which  is 
unbefitting  so  solemn  and  important  a  subject. 
He  seems,  from  the  whole  tenour  of  his  composi- 
tion, to  be  saying  to  his  readers,  "  Ilisum  teneatis 
amici."  He  has  evidently  forgotten  a  maxim 
which  he  laid  down  in  one  of  his  sermons,  when 
he  spoke  of  the  treatment  with  which  St.  Paul 
met  from  some  of  the  Athenians;  and  of  which 
he  says,  "  some  mocked;"  "  a  short  method  of 


INTRODUCTORY  LETTER.  )Sf 

refuting  the  Gospel;  and  likely,  from  its  conveni^ 
ence,  to  continue  in  favour  and  fashion." 

Ridicule  is  no  test  of  truth;  there  is  nothing 
we  may  not  make  ridiculous  by  allowing  to  fancy 
an  unbridled  license;  it  is  the  great  weapon  of 
infidelity,  and  was  recommended  by  that  arch 
deceiver  Voltaire,  as  the  best  means  of  opposing 
Christianity.  "  Render,"  says  he,  in  his  letters 
to  D'Alembert,  "  these  pedants  (the  clergy)  as 
enormously  ridiculous  as  you  can.  Ridicule  is 
every  thing ;  it  is  the  strongest  of  all  weapons. 
A  bon  mot  is  as  good  a  thing  as  a  good  book." 
In  the  same  spirit,  Shaftesbuiy  advises,  as  the 
best  means  of  opposing  Christianity,  to  employ 
"  Bart'lemy  Fair*  drollery  against  it." 

Still  less  was  I  pleased  witl;  the  letters  of  a 
learned  Presbyterian  professor  on  the  same  side 
of  the  question.  They  appeared  to  me  to  be 
written  so  ungraciousl}- — to  manifest  such  an 
overweening  conceit  of  self — to  be  characterized 
with  such  an  air  of  pedantry — to  enforce  the 
*'  dicta"  of  their  author  with  such  an  ex  cathedra 
tone — to  abound  with  so  many  subterfuges — to 
present  such  mutilated,  garbled  quotations  from 
the  Fathers — in  a  word,  to  be  so  replete  with 
Jesuitical  ^^  Jlnesse,^^  that  1  could  not  but  feel  dis- 
gust at  the  exhibition.  Whatever  may  be  the 
state  of  my  head,  I  trust  I  have  an  honest  heart; 
I  was  early  taught  to  despise  duplicity,  and  I 
hope  I  almost  instinctively  revolt  from  it;  but 
when  I  found  this  author,  because  it  would  serve 
his  turn  against  Episcopalians,  denouncing  the 
shorter  Epistles  of  Ignatius  as  spurious  produc- 
tions; and,  at  the  same  time,  in  another  book 
which  lay  before  me,  found  the  same  man,  bc- 

*  Bartlioloincw  Fair. 


"20  INTRODUCTORY  LETTER. 

cause  it  would  serve  his  purpose  against  the 
Unitarians,  vindicating  the  very  same  Epistles  of 
Ignatius  as  genuine;  I  say,  w^hen  I  saw  this,  I 
felt  that  he  could  hardly  claim  my  confidence ;  I 
could  not  repress  the  risings  of  honest  indignation. 
If  this  be  not  verifying  the  old  fable  of  blowing 
hot  and  cold  with  the  same  mouth,  what  is  f  I 
was  convinced  that,  whatever  powers  of  reasoning 
he  might  possess,  he  was  deficient  in  that  candour 
and  consistency  which  would  alone  command  my 
respect;  that,  however  I  might  view  him  as  a 
subtle  and  wily  sophist,  I  ought  not  to  regard  him 
as  a  sound  and  honest  reasoner. 

Suppose,  I  thought,  that  a  witness  in  a  court 
of  judicature  should  thus  act;  suppose  such  an 
one,  when  his  own  interest  was  in  some  measure 
concerned,  should  give  evidence  that  a  certain 
document  set  up  by  the  other  party  was  unworthy 
of  credit ;  and  suppose  that  at  an  after  period, 
when  he  wished  to  set  at  nought  a  different  anta- 
gonist, ao-ainst  whom  the  aforesaid  document 
bore,  that  in  such  case  he  should  give  evidence 
that  the  document  ought  to  be  accredited,  what 
would  be  the  feelings  expressed  by  the  court  at 
the  discovery  of  his  contradictory  testimony  ?  *  * 

In  my  next  I  shall  enter  upon  the  reasons  which 
convince  me  of  the  legitimacy  and  divine  appoint- 
ment of  Episcopacy. 


LETTER    II. 

EPISCOPACY  CONSIDERED  ON  THE  GROUND  OF 

EXPEDIENCY. 


Right  Rev.  and  dear  Sir, 

Among  ihc  numerous  reasons  which  have  enforced 
conviction  upon  my  mind  in  this  important  sub- 
ject, the  following  may  be  adduced  ;  the  least  and 
lowest  arguments  being  placed  first,  as  is  natural 
in  the  order  of  distribution. 

Expediency  may  be  considered  as  affording 
presumptive  evidence. 

Whilst  many  Dissenters*  contend  that  the  plat- 
form of  their  Church  government  is  accurately 
laid  down  in  the  writins^s  of  the  New  Testament, 
a  very  lar<xe  number  of  them  insist  that  no  form 
of  Church  government  is  at  all  prescribed  therein, 

but  that  THE  FOUR  FOLLOWING  ARE  THE  ONLY 
RULES    PRESENTED    IN    HOLY    SCRIPTURE    UPON 

THAT  POINT,  viz.  "  Let  all  things  he  done  decently 
and  in  order.''''  "  Let  all  things  he  done  to  edify- 
ing.'^'' "  Let  all  things  he  done  uMh  charity.''''  And, 
*'  Do  all  things  uithoid  murmuring.''''     Thus  they 

*  The  writer  takes  this  occasion,  once  for  all,  to  state,  that  in  the 
a?e  of  this  term  it  is  not  his  intention  to  otiend.  He  has  learned, 
nincc  his  arrival  hi  this  country,  that  here  the  application  of  tho 
word  to  those  who  differ  from  the  Episcopal  Church  is  objected  to. 
He  has  naturally  adopted  a  mode  of  speech  familiar  to  him  from 
long  habit,  and  has  deemed  it  best  ^m  these  letters  to  retain  it, 
as  expressing  in  one  wqrd  what  might  otlierwisc  require  soEtw 
ciircuoilocutioD, 


22  EPISCOPACY  CONSIDERED 

make,  in  fact,  expediency  to  be  the  basis  of  all 
Church  government.  And  frequently  do  they 
assert,  that  as  God  has  presented  no  particular 
mode  of  government  to  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
but  has  left  them  to  institute  such  as  may  seem 
to  their  wisdom  most  fitting,  so  neither  has  he 
appointed  any  special  form  of  government  in  his 
Church,  but  that  he  has  left  it  to  Christians  to 
make  sucfi  regulations  as  may  accord  with  their 
climates,  and  habits,  and  peculiar  circuriistances; 
hence,  whilst  among  all  the  Congregational 
churches  there  are  some  points  of  resemblance, 
there  are  also  other  points  of  dissimilarity.  Uni- 
formity is  regarded  as  non-essential. 

Admitting  then,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  the 
proposition,  "  That  expediency  is  the  basis  of 
Church  government,"  will  not  Episcopacy  derive 
from  it  powerful  support?  All  the  nations  of 
mankind,  however  free  their  government  may 
have  been;  even  those  republicks  which  have 
manifested  the  greatest  jealousy  of  their  liberties ; 
have  agreed  that  power  must  be  lodged  some- 
where— that  officers  must  be  appointed  as  the 
guardians  of  their  fellow-citizens,  the  judges  and 
expositors  of  their  laws,  the  executors  of  their 
decrees,  the  presidents  of  their  assembhes — that 
these  should  be  armed  with  authority,  that  they 
might  be  "  a  terror  to  evil  doers,  and  a  praise  to 
them  that  do  well.'^  It  matters  not  that  they  have 
guarded  well  these  powers,  and  accurately  defined 
their  limits,  lest  they  should  be  abused.  The 
very  fact  of  these  limitations  shows  the  conviction 
entertained  of  their  importance — that  they  sup- 
posed a  body  politick  must  have  a  head — that  all 
its  members  could  not  be  in  a  state  of  perfect 
parity — that  the  weight  of  government  could  not 
with  safety  be  reposed  upon  the  weak  and  igno^ 


ON  THE  GROUND  OF  EXPEDIENCY.         23 

rant,  but  upon  the  wise  and  the  influential — that 
necessity  required  for  the  piiblick  weal  different 
grades  in  society,  and  various  officers  invested 
with  superiority  and  command.  Hence  the  archons 
at  Athens,  the  senators,  the  triumviri,  the  decem- 
viri, the  consuls  at  Rome,  the  senators  and  the 
doge  at  Venice,  and,  not  to  mention  others,  the 
congress,  the  president,  vice-president,  and  vari- 
ous functionaries  of  these  United  States. 

We  have  then  a  lesson  of  wisdom  gathered  from 
the  united  experience  of  all  ages,  ancient  and 
modern,  far  and  near,  that  society  must  have  laws, 
that  laws  require  officers,  and  that  officers  must 
be  invested  with  authority  and  power;  without 
these  all  will  be  anarchy;  disorder  and  confusion 
will  universally  obtain;  the  wicked  and  mighty 
will  riot  in  tyranny,  and  will  prowl  like  beasts  of 
prey  upon  their  fellovr-men.  It  is  also  universally 
admitted  that  all  men  are  not  fitted  to  rule — that 
all  are  not  qualified  for  judging;  but  that  each 
man  must  have  his  distinct  and  separate  work, 
to  Vv'hich  his  talents  are  adapted  :  the  place  for 
the  man,  and  the  man  for  the  place.  Thus  the 
fabrick  of  society  is  cemented  and  strengthened 
throughout  all  its  parts ;  harmony,  order,  and 
happiness  arc  established  universally. 

And  must  it  be  otherwise  in  the  Church?  Is 
not  this  society  composed  of  beings  differing  in 
almost  endless  variety  from  each  other?  Are  all 
fit  to  minister  therein?  Are  all  fit  to  rule?  Are 
ail  fit  to  discharge  the  great  official  duties  v/hich 
such  a  community  requires,  or  to  enforce  the  laws 
by  which  order  amongst  them  should  be  main- 
tained? There  must  be  some,  then,  to  fill  sta- 
tions of  greater  importance  than  otiiers,  who  shall 
attend  to  the  administration  of  the  laws  by  which 
it  is  governed,  and  who,  possessing  ability,  shall 


24  EPISCOPACY  CONSIDERED 

also  be  invested  with  authority  to  exercise  salutary 
discipline.  Nor  can  this  be  done  unless  there  be 
different  grades  and  stations,  the  holders  of  which 
shall  have  it  in  charge  to  fulnl  these  several  and 
important  functions. 

Does  Presbytery  effect  this  ?  An  appeal  to  its 
disjointed  state,  its  conflicting  opinions,  the  anti- 
pathies and  animosities  of  its  members,  will  give 
the  answer.  It  is  the  lamentation  of  the  old  men> 
that  "  men  of  corrupt  minds"  have  entered  in 
amongst  them ;  that  they  who  professed  at  their 
ordination  to  embrace  the  standards  of  their  faith, 
teach  doctrines  utterly  opposed  to  these  standards ; 
that  these  men  are  deluging  the  Church  with  a 
flood  of  novelties,  which  they  have  no  power  to 
repel  or  restrain ;  in  fine,  they  admit  that  there 
is  no  authority  amongst  them  to  exercise  disci- 
pline, or  to  enforce  their  laws.  Whatever  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  this  country  may  once 
have  been,  it  now  presents  to  the  eye  of  a  calm 
observer — 1  speak  it  not  with  exultation,  but 
regret — nothing  but  a  confused  mass  of  discordant 
elements,  in  a  state  of  dreadful  collision,  like  the 
primitive  chaos;  (Tohu  Bohu.)  "  Every  man 
does  that  which  is  right  in  the  sight  of  his  own  eyes.'"' 
Many  are  striving  daily  to  advance  some  new 
doctrine,  whilst  the  stranger  and  more  absurd  it 
is,  the  more  popular  is  it  likely  to  become.  Its 
ceremonies,  government,  order,  where  are  they? 
Alas!  in  Presbytery  they  are  no  where  to  be 
found ;  as  the  record  of  the  last  General  Assembly 
in  this  country  mournfully  evinces. 

Is  the  case  better  with  the  Congregationallsts  ? 
Let  their  histories  decide.  From  the  days  of 
Brown  and  Robinson,  their  first  founders,  down 
to  the  present  hour,  their  churches  have  ever  been 
the  arena  of  discord.     Like  the  winds  seen  by  the 


ON  THE  GROUND  OF  EXPEDIENCY.         25 

prophet  in  vision,  which  strove  upon  the  sea,  and 
gave  birth  to  hideous  monsters;  so  the  contend- 
ing elements  of  their  passions  have,  from  these 
troubled  waters,  called  forth  heresies  the  most 
gigantick  and  frightfid  to  desolate  the  globe. 
Witness  the  Socinianism  of  the  western  part  of 
England,  as  recorded  by  Bogue  and  Bennet,  the 
historians  of  Congregationalism;  and  of  Massa- 
chusetts, as  exhibited  to  our  own  eyes ;  not  to  say 
any  thing  of  the  horrible  and  frantick  excesses  of 
the  Independents  and  Anabaptists  of  Munster,  as 
recorded  in  every  ecclesiastical  history  of  their 
times— it  is  "  confusion  worse  confounded ;"  their 
diurches  resemble  any  thing  rather  than  the 
Church  of  Christ. 

Abstract  argument  is  how^ever  rendered  unne- 
cessary, by  the  existence  of  fact.     There  is  one 
fact  which,  however  anomalous  it  may  appear, 
cannot  be  contravened,  and  which  speaks  upon 
this   subject  more  than  a  thousand   arguments. 
The  London  Missionary  Society,  which,  whilst  it 
professes  a  truly  catholick  spirit,  and  enlists  all 
classes  in  tiie  number  of  its  contributors,  is   in 
truth  the  great  Missionary  Society  of  the  Congre- 
gationalists,  to  which  they  all  belong,  and  which 
they  claim  as  "  our  Society.''''    This  Society,  which 
is  governed  by  a  committee  in  London,  of  whom 
by  far  the  largest  proportion  is  Congregationalists, 
who,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  are  its  prime 
movers — this  Society,  after  serious  deliberation, 
sent  out,  about  sixteen  years  ago,  a  minister  of 
high  standing  and  talent  in  their  connexion,  (whom 
they  prevailed  upon  to  resign  his  charge  in  Aber- 
deen for  that  purpose,)  to  take  the  superintendence 
of  their  missions  in  Africa,  and  invested  him  with 
power,  as  their  representative,  to  overlook  and 
<iontrol  their  missionaries  in  that  quarter.     Ac- 

3 


2(5  tPISCOPACY  CONSIDERED 

counts  of  this  appointment,  and  of  his  success, . 
may  be  seen  in  their  printed  annual  reports,  and 
their  quarterly  chronicles,  in  which  they  call  him 
'■'  The  Superintendent  o^  the  Society's  Missions  in 
Africa." 

But  there  is  one  part  of  this  subject  of  which 
they  have  made  little  or  no  mention.  It  is  this, 
Some  of  the  churches  previously  settled  at  the 
Cape,  and  then  in  connexion  with  the  London 
Missionary  Society,  objected  to  this  appointment, 
as  being-  contrary  to  their  characters  as  Cono^re- 
g-ational  churches — an  invasion  of  their  indepen- 
dent rights.  They  refused  to  submit  to  this 
delegated  authority.  They  sent  home  to  the 
Society  remonstrances,  disclaiming  their  right 
to  appoint  over  them  "  a  Bishop."  At  length 
Dr.  Thorn,  one  of  their  missionaries,  and  pastor 
of  the  Dutch  church  at  the  Cape,  was  sent  to 
England  for  the  express  purpose  of  appealing 
Mirainst  vv'hat  some  of  the  churches  by  whom  he 
was  commissioned  considered  a  gross  violation  of 
their  rights;  but  he  appealed  in  vain.  During 
the  stay  of  Dr.  Thorn  in  London,  he  related  to  the 
writer  hereof  the  fact,  WMth  strong  expressions  of 
indignation.  The  superintendent  was,  however, 
continued,  and  the  remonstrant  churches  seceded ; 
in  consequence.  Dr.  Thom,  of  whom  mention, 
about  tvvcnty  years  since,  was  made  in  all  the 
Society's  reports,  and  of  wdiom,  in  almost  every 
month's  "  Evangelical  Magazine,"  some  account 
was  given — Dr.  Thom's  name  is  now  scarcely,  if 
over,  mentioned. 

Thus  have  the  Congregationalists,  by  their  ac- 
tions, and  "  actions  speak  louder  than  words,"  in 
establishing  a  superintendent,  (or  in  other  words, 
a  bishop,  for  it  is  one  and  the  same  thing,)  over 
their  missionary  churches,  announced  unto  the 


ON  THE  GROUND  OF  EXPEDIENCY.         27 

world,  that,  in  their  opinion,  Episcopacy,  at  least 
in  that  quarter,  is  by  far  the  most  e|^pedient  mode 
of  Church  government. 

Upon  this  point  an  ingenuous  mind  will  ask  no 
further  proof. 


LETTER  IIL 

EPISCOPACY  SANCTIONED  BY  THE  INSTITUTIONS 

OF  JUDAISM. 


Right  Rev.  and  dear  Sir, 

The  institutions  of  Judaism    tend    still   more 
strongly  to  support  the  claims  of  Episcopacy. 

The  whole  of  the  Levitical  economy  was  in- 
stituted by  God  himself.  Its  appointment  was 
attended  by  the  most  awful  and  august  solemnities 
which  could  impress  the  minds  of  the  Israelites 
with  a  sense  of  its  weight  and  importance,  and 
which  could  call  forth  towards  it  their  reverence 
and  obedience.  There  was  nothing  in  it,  however 
minute,  but  was  prescribed  by  the  Most  High 
himself;  and  lest  any  addition,  of  whatever  kind, 
might  be  made  to  it,  or  any  subtraction  be  made 
from  it,  Moses  was  frequently  reminded  of  the 
necessity  of  adhering  to  the  model  which  had 
been  exhibited  to  him  on  the  top  of  the  Mount 
Sinai ;  he  had  it  repeatedly  enjoined  upon  him, 
*'  See  that  thou  do  all  things  according  to  the  pattern 
shoivn  thee  in  the  moimt.^^ 

This  dispensation,  then,  was  the  product  of 
divine  wisdom,  upon  which  the  Most  High  had 
lavished  much  skill,  and  power,  and  glory,  be- 
cause he  designed  it  to  be  the  type  or  picture  of 
*'  heavenly  tJmigs.^^  "  The  law  iras  a  shadow  of 
good  things  to  corned  The  whole  system  of  sa- 
crificature  in  the  Mosaick  Church — her  priests, 


EPISCOPACY  SANCTIONED,  &C.  29 

victims,  laws,  and  governmGnt,  all  were  typical ; 
bnt  of  what  ?  no  where  is  she  said  to  be  a  type 
only  of  the  present  dispensation,  of  the  New 
Testament;  but,  in  the  language  of  St.  Paul,  to 
have  been  "  an  example  and  shadow  of  heavenly 
things;''^  ^^ patterns  of  things  in  the  heavens;'^  "  the 
heavens,  into  which  Christ  himself  has  entered,  to 
appear  in  the  presence  of  God  for  iisJ''' 

In  this  Church  Jehovah  instituted  a  priesthood, 
consisting  of  three  gradations  of  ministers,  viz. 
the  Levites,  or  ordinary  priests,  whose  office  it 
was  to  attend  to  the  usual  w^ork  in  the  outer 
court  of  the  tabernacle.  Over  these  presided  a 
higher  grade  of  priests,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
superintend  the  Levites,  to  burn  incense  in  the 
holy  place,  and  to  offer,  upon  the  altar  in  that 
court,  the  shew-bread ;  these  were  termed  the 
"  chief  priests."  Over  these  again  presided  the 
"  high  priest,"  whose  office  it  was  to  superintend 
the  whole  priesthood,  who  only  could  perform 
some  functions  peculiar  to  his  rank  and  office, 
and  who,  once  a  year,  might  enter  alone  into  the 
"  holy  of  holies."  Thus  in  this  Church,  divinely 
organized,  were  three  different  grades  of  minis- 
ters, each  one  rising  above  the  other. 

It  has  become  customary  with  many  writers, 
(for  what  reason  does  not  appear,)  to  set  the  Old 
Testament  Churches,  and  those  of  the  New,  in 
direct  opposition  to  each  other.  These  persons 
forget,  that  as  the  New  Testament  is  the  con- 
tinuation, the  commentary,  the  illustration  of  the 
Old ;  so  also  the  latter  Church  bears  the  same 
relation  to  the  former.  Both  Churches' have  the 
same  Founder,  the  same  object  of  faith,  the 
same  hope  presented  to  their  view,  and  were 
both  instituted  with  the  same  design.  The  dis- 
pensations, indeed,  are  changed,  but  Christianity 

3* 


30  EPISCOPACY  SANCTIONED  BY  THE 

was  the  religion  of  the  Jewish  as  much  as  it  is 
of  the  Apostolick  Church.  This  is  evident  from 
various  grounds ;  but  to  enter  into  any  detail  ef 
these  is  needless,  since  we  have  the  testimony, 
upon  the  point,  of  an  inspired  apostle,  who  tells 
us  that  '*  Christ  was  the  end  of  the  law  for  righte- 
ousness to  every  one  that  believeth  f^  that  "to  him 
gave  all  the  prophets  witness  f^  that  '■''Moses  counted 
the  reproach  of  Christ  greater  riches  than  the  trea- 
mres  of  Egypt  f^  that  the  Israelites  in  the  wilder- 
ness did,  equally  with  us,  "  drink  of  the  same 
spiritual  rock  ichich  followed  them,  and  that  rock 
was  Christ.^'' 

Wherein  then  lies  the  diiference  between  the 
two  Churches  ?  St.  Paul  tells  us,  it  is  that  "  life 
and  immortality  are  made  clear  hy  the  GospeL^^ 
"  We  are  not  co7ne  unto  Mount  Sinai,  but  unto 
Mount  Zion,^^  "  We  have  not  received  the  spirit  of 
bondage  again  to  fear,  but  the  Spirit  of  adoption, 
crying,  Abba,  Father.''''  That  is,  the  Jewish 
Church  had  respect  to  a  Messiah  who  was  to 
come,  God  to  be  made  manifest  in  the  flesh :  the 
New  Testament  Church  regards  the  Messiah  as 
already  come,  God  as  already  incarnated.  The 
Jews  looked  forward  for  an  atonement  to  be 
afterwards  offered  up  and  presented  to  God: 
the  New  Testament  Church  looks  back  upon  the 
sacrifice  as  already  presented  and  '^appearing  in 
the  presence  of  God'^  for  them.  The  former 
Church  was  in  a  state  of  infancy :  the  latter  is 
farther  advanced  towards  maturity.  The  one 
lived  in  the  darkness  of  the  night  w^hen  Pagan 
idolatry  overspread  the  world,  being  '^  as  a  light 
shining  in  a  dark  place  :^''  the  other  lives  in  the 
twilight,  of  which  it  is  said,  "  the  night  is  far 
spent,  the  day  is  at  hand,^^  and  on  whom  the 
bright  and  morning  star,  the  precursor  of  perfect 


INSTITUTIONS  OF  JUDAISM.  31 

day,  ha^  arisen.  Thus  the  only  change  in  the 
dispensation  relates  to  the  difference  between  a 
Messiah  about  to  come,  and  a  Messiah  actually 
arrived ;  between  the  spirit  of  bondage  which 
characterized  the  former,  and  the  Spirit  of  free- 
dom and  adoption  which  designates  the  latter 
believers.  » 

The  Church,  then,  is  still  one,  though  existing 
under  different  dispensations.  The  incarnation, 
sufferings,  death,  burial,  resurrection,  ascension, 
and  glorification  of  Christ  are  past ;  as  such  they 
are  expressed  in  the  ordinances  of  the  New 
Testament  Church ;  but  they  were  expressed  as 
future  in  the  Jewish  Church.  Are  not,  also,  all 
the  self-same  things  set  before  our  view  in  one 
dispensation  as  in  the  other?  If  the  Jews  were 
to  enter  into  the  tabernacle  by  washing  in  the 
laver  which  stood  at  its  entrance,  and  exhibited 
their  faith  in  the  sacrifice  offered  on  the  altar  ;  so 
Christians  enter  into  the  Church  by  the  washing 
of  regeneration,  and  profess  their  faith  also  in 
the  blood  of  the  atonement.  If,  after  these  en- 
gagements, the  Jew  might  enter  into  the  holy 
place^  feasting  there,  in  the  presence  of  God, 
upon  the  sacrifice,  and  rejoicing  in  the  light  of 
the  golden  candlestick  ;  so  Christians  feed  in  the 
sanctuary  upon  their  sacrifice,  and  enjoy  the 
light  of  divine  revelation.  If,  in  fine,  the  Jew, 
by  Aaron's  entrance  witiiin  the  vail,  was  taught 
to  look  for  a  glorious  ini mortality  in  an  unseen 
world  ;  so  Christians,  by  the  entrance  of  their 
Saviour  into  heaven,  are  taught  to  look  for  a  new 
heaven  and  a  new  earth  ;  and  that  "  unto  them 
that  look  for  him  shall  he  appear  the  second  time 
icithout  sin  unto  salvation.''^ 

The  constitution  and  design  of  both  Churches 
are  evidently,  then,  the  same ;  both  being  modi- 


32  EPISCOPACY  SANCTIONED  BY  THE 

fications  of  a  Church  militant;  both  destined  to 
terminate  in  one  which  is  triumphant.    Both  were 
designed  to  be  typical,  to  figure  forth,  to  represent 
one  and  the  self-same  object,  viz.  ^'  the  new  Jeru- 
salem from  above,  ivhich  is  the  mother  of  us  alV 
This  latter  Church,  as  it  is  not  yet  completed,  is 
now  invisible;   but  it  will  be   the  everlasting 
state  of  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour. 
Prophets  and  apostles  unite  in  bearing  witness  to 
her  as  about  to  be  established,  when  the  present 
dispensation  of  things  shall  have  passed  away. 
But   of   her,    both    the    Jewish   and   Christian 
Churches  were  patterns  or  figures.     The  New 
Testament  Church  is  that  which  Christ  by  the 
apostles  established ;  and  being  visible,  is  a  type 
of  that  which  at  present  is  invisible.    Under  both 
Testaments,    therefore,   the   two  Churches   are 
one  in  constitution  and  design.     Their  points  of 
resemblance  are,  that  both  are  visible;  both  lead 
the  mind  to  the  anticipation  of  the  future  state; 
both  are  schools  in  which  the  children  of  God 
are  nursed  and  trained  up  into  a  meetness  for 
their  everlasting  inheritance.     Both   must  have 
temporal   laws,    sensible   rites,    ceremonies,    or 
ordinances ;  both  must  have  office-bearers,  disci- 
pline, rules  of  order  and  worship.     In  all  these 
respects  there  is  a  perfect  correspondence  be- 
tween them. 

Surely,  then,  if  both  Churches  are  the  same  in 
the  object  of  their  worship,  sacrifices,  Mediator, 
promises,  and  sanctuary, — they  must  be  the  same 
in  the  design  of  their  priesthood,  which  is  typical 
also.  To  argue  that  the  platform  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church  is  to  be  found,  not  in  the  tabernacle 
or  temple,  but  in  the  synagogue,  is  to  reject  the 
appointments  of  God  for  those  of  men;  it  is  to 
prefer  the  inventions  of  the  fallible  creature  be- 


INSTITUTIONS  OF  JUDAISM,  33 

fore  the  institutions  of  the  infalhble  God ;  it  is  to 
blot  out  one  jDart  of  the  constitution  of  heaven 
itself,  and  to  approve  of  the  suggestions  of  carnal 
reason,  rather  than  the  dictates  of  divine  wisdom 
— a  conduct,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  to  the  last  de- 
gree erroneous. 

When,  then,  the  abrogation  of  the  Levitical 
economy,  and  the  introduction  of  the  Christian 
dispensation  took  place,  what  can  be  more  rea- 
sonable than  that  the  inspired  apostles,  under  the 
direction  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  should  take,  as  the 
rule  of  their  Church  ministry  and  government, 
the  very  same  which  had  been  by  God  himself 
prescribed  to  Moses?  Every  principle  of  reason 
would  dictate  that  they  should  do  so;  and  that 
this  w^as  the  case,  may  be  evinced,  as  will  here- 
after appear,  from  the  records  of  the  Scriptures^ 
and  from  the  testimony  of  the  Fathers^ 


LETTER   IV. 

TESTIMONIES  OF  PRESBYTERIANS  AND  OTHER 
ANTI-EPISCOPALIANS  IN  FAVOUR  OF  EPISCO^ 
PACY. 


Right  Rev.  and  dear  Sir, 

The  admissions  of  those  who  have  adhered  to  a 
different  form  of  Church  government,  but  who, 
in  their  writings,  have  borne  either  direct  or 
indirect  testimonies  in  favour  of  Episcopacy, 
present  a  further  argument  in  aid  of  estabnshing 
its  divine  origin.     *'  Fas  est  ab  hoste  doceri." 

Here,  however,  a  considerable  difficulty  occurs ; 
but  it  arises  not  from  the  paucity,  but  the  multi- 
tude of  the  testimonies  ;  for,  after  that  a  selection 
has  been  made  from  the  very  wisest  and  best  of 
these  writers,  a  much  larger  number  must  neces- 
sarily be  omitted  ;  and  many  must  be  altogether 
neglected,  whose  testimonies  also  might  perhaps, 
in  the  view  of  some  persons,  be  considered  as 
affording  equal,  or  even  still  stronger  evidence. 

Doddridge,  an  eminently  learned  man,  and  a 
decided  Congregationalist,  admits  that  different 
grades  of  clergy  existed  in  the  time  of  Ignatius. 
His  words  are — "  The  distinction  between  bishops 
and  presbyters  does  not  appear  to  be  of  earlier 
date  than  the  time  of  Ignatius." — Led,  cxvi. 


IN  FAVOUR  OF  EPISCOPACT.  35 

Calvin,  the  Geneva  reformer,  speaks  of  the 
ordination  of  Timothy  as  being  the  work  of  the 
Apostle  Paul  himself,  and  not  of  the  presbyters. 
His  words  are — "  His  expression  in  the  other 
Epistle,  of  *  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  pres- 
bytery,'' I  apprehend  not  to  signify  a  company  of 
elders,  but  to  denote  '  the  ordination  itself  ;' 
as  if  he  had  said — '  Take  care  that  the  grace 
which  thou  receivedst  by  the  laying  on  of  hands 
when  I  ordained  thee,  be  not  in  vain.'  " — Calv. 
Inst.  B.  IV.  c.  iv.  §  2. 

"  They  named  all  on  whom  was  enjoined  the 
office  of  teaching,  presbyters.  They  chose  one  of 
their  number  in  every  city,  to  whom  in  particular 
they  gave  the  title  of  Bishop ;  lest  from  equality, 
as  usually  happens,  dissensions  should  arise." — 
Calv.  Inst.  B.  IV.  c.  iv.  §2. 

"  If  they  will  give  us  such  an  hierarchy,  in 
which  the  bishops  have  such  a  pre-eminence  as 
that  they  do  not  refuse  to  be  subject  unto  Christ, 
I  will  confess  that  tliey  are  icorthy  of  all  anathemas, 
if  any  such  there  be,  who  ivill  not  reverence  it, 
and  submit  themselves  to  it  ivith  the  utmost  obedi- 
ejtce.^^ — Calvin  on  the  necessity  of  reforming  the 
Church. — Johan.  Calvin.  Tract.  Theol.  omnes,  p. 
69. 

"  Neither  the  light  nor  heat  of  the  sun,  nor 
meat  and  drink,  are  so  necessary  to  nourish  and 
sustain  this  present  life,  as  the  office  of  apostles 
and  pastors  is  necessary  to  preserve  the  Church." 
— Calv.  Inst.  B.  IV.  c.  iii.  §2. 

Luther,  the  great  reformer,  gives  ample  evi- 
dence in  his  writings,  that  he  would  have  main- 
tained in  his  Church  the  Episcopal  order,  if  he 
could  possibly  have  done  so ;  but  not  being  able 
to  procure  bishops,  he  established  superintendents, 


36  TESTIMONIES  OF  PRESBYTERIANS,  &C. 

who  had  every  thing  of  the  Episcopal  character 
but  their  consecration.  That  Luther  was  an 
Episcopahan  in  sentiment  is  evident  from  his  own 
declarations.  Speaking  of  the  Popish  bishops, 
he  thus  professes  of  them,  if  they  would  cease  to 
persecute  the  Gospel : — 

''We  would  acknowledge  them  as  our  fathers, 
and  willingly  obey  their  authority,  which  we  find 
supported  by  the  word  of  God.^^^ Chandler^ s  Ap- 
peal defended^  p.  239. 

"  I  allow  that  each  city  ought  to  have  its  own 
bishop  by  divine  right,  which  I  show  from  Paul 
saying  to  Titus,  '  For  this  thing  left  I  thee  in 
Crete,'  "  <fec. — Lnther^s  Resolutions,  vol.  i.  fol.  p. 
309. 

Beza,  the  celebrated  reformer,  in  his  letter  to 
Archbishop  Whitgift,  writes : — 

"In  my  writings  touching  Church  government, 
lever  impugned  the  Romish  hierarchy,  but  never 
intended  to  touch  or  impugn  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land." 

The  same  author  writes— 

*'  It  was  essential,  that,  by  the  perpetual  ordi- 
nation of  God,  it  was,  it  is,  and  itivillbe  necessary 
that  some  one  in  the  presbytery,  chief  both  iil 
place  and  dignity,  should  preside,  to  govern  the 
proceedings,  hy  thai  right  ivhich  is  given  him  of 
God.^^ — On  the  Degrees  of  the  Ministry,  c.  xxiii. 

*'  If  there  are  any,  as  you  will  not  easily  per* 
suade  me,  who  would  reject  the  whole  order  of 
bishops,  God  forbid  that  any  man  in  his  senses 
shoidd  assent  to  their  madness,''^ — Ad  Saraviam,  c. 
xviii. 

Bucer,  another  of  the  refornjers,  thus  writes: — 
*'  By   the    perpetual  observation   of   all    the 


IN  FAVOUR  OF  EPISCOPACY.  37 

churches,  even  from  the  apostles'  time,  we  see  that 
it  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  among 
presbyters,  to  whom  the  procuration  of  churches 
was  chiefly  committed,  there  should  be  one  that 
should  hav^e  the  care  or  charge  of  divers  churches, 
and  the  whole  ministry  committed  to  him ;  and, 
by  reason  of  that  charge,  he  was  above  the  rest ; 
and  therefore  the  name  of  Bishop  was  peculiarly 
attributed  to  those  chief  rulers." — De  Cura  Curat, 
p.  251. 

Jacobus  Lectins,  one  of  the  senators  of  Geneva, 
in  his  work  addressed  and  dedicated  to  the  syndics 
and  senate,  uses  the  following  language: — 

"  We  maintain  that  those  are  true  and  lawful 
bishops  whom  St.  Paul  describes  in  his  Epistles 
to  Timothy  and  Titus ;  and  we  do  not  deny  but 
that  there  were  such  formerly  in  that  great  king- 
dom of  Great-Britain,  and  that  at  this  very  day 
there  are  such  bishops  there." 

Raimond  Gaches,  one  of  the  pastors  at  Cha- 
renton,  and  a  man  of  great  eminence  in  the 
French  Church,  thus  writes  to  Mr.  Brevint : — 

"  Would  to  God  we  had  no  other  differences 
with  the  bishops  of  France  but  their  dignity! 
How  cheerfully  should  I  submit  myself  to  them ! 
although  you  know  that  their  yoke  is  heavy,  far 
heavier  than  that  of  the  bishops  in  England. 
How  comes  it  to  pass,  then,  that  those  of  your 
Presbyterians  that  are  great,  understanding,  and 
wise  men,  have  such  an  aversion  against  moderate 
Episcopacy?  And  why  do  they  refuse  to  have 
communion  with  Ignatius,  Polycarp,  Cyprian, 
Chrysostom,  and  all  that  holy  company  of  the 
purest  antiquity?" — DurelVs  Vieiv,  Sfc.  p.  125. 

4 


38  TESTIMONIES  OP  1>RESBYTER1ANS,  (fcc. 

Bishop  Carleton,  one  of  the  British  delegates 
to  the  Synod  of  Dort,  gives  the  following  state- 
ment : — 

"  I  openly  protested  in  the  synod,  that  it  was 
a  strange  proposition  which  had  been  inserted  in 
said  Confession,  namely,  that  Christ  instituted  an 
equality  among  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  I  pub- 
lickly  declared  that  it  could  no  where  be  shown 
that  Christ  had  ordained  such  an  equality :  that 
he  had  chosen  twelve  apostles  and  seventy  disci- 
ples, and  that  those  apostles  were  invested  with 
an  authority  and  superintendency  over  all  others, 
and  that  the  Church  had  constantly  and  uninter- 
ruptedly maintained  the  same  subordination.  I 
appealed  in  this  affair  to  all  the  ancients,  and  to 
all  men  of  learnino-  of  the  present  age ;  yea,  I 
earnestly  challenged  any  man  in  the  synod  to 
prove  the  contrary.  The  Lord  Bishop  of  Salis- 
bury is  my  witness,  and  all  the  doctors  that  were 
with  me,  for  I  was  the  mouth  of  them  all;  and 
there  was  not  one  man  in  the  assembly  that  pre- 
tended to  contradict  me,  whence  we  justly  con- 
cluded they  were  all  of  our  opinion." — Brandfs 
Hist,  of  Refor.  vol.  iii.  p.  288. 

Bishop  Hall,  also  another  of  the  delegates  to 
the  aforesaid  synod,  states  as  follows: — 

"  When  the  Bishop  of  LlandafF  had,  in  a  speech 
of  his,  touched  upon  Episcopal  government,  and 
showed  that  the  want  thereof  gave  opportunities 
to  those  divisions  which  were  then  on  foot  in  the 
Netherlands,  Bogermannus,  the  president  of  the 
assembly,  stood  up,  and  in  good  allowance  of 
what  had  been  spoken,  said,  *  Domine,  nos  ncm 
sumus  adeo  felices.^  (Alas,  my  lord,  we  are  not 
so  happy.)  Neither  did  he  speak  this  in  a  fa- 
shionable compliment,  (neither  the  person,  nor  the 


IN  FAVOUR  OF  EPISCOPACY.  39 

hearers,  nor  the  place  were  fit  for  that,)  but  in  a 
sad  gravity  and  conscionable  profession  of  a  known 
truth ;  neither  would  he,  being  the  mouth  of  that 
select  assembly,  have  thought  it  safe  to  pass  those 
words  before  the  deputies  of  the  States,  and  so 
many  venerable  divines  of  foreign  parts,  (besides 
their  own,)  if  he  had  not  supposed  this  so  clear  a 
truth  as  that  synod  would  neither  disrelish  or 
contradict." — Bishop  Hall's  Div.  Right  of  Epis, 
part.  i.  §  4. 

Peter  de  Moulin,  an  eminent  theological  pro- 
fessor of  the  French  Presbyterian  Church,  writes 
as  follows : — 

"  Our  adversaries  unjustly  accuse  us  to  be 
enemies  of  the  Episcopal  order ;  for  we  must  be 
altogether  ignorant  in  history,  if  we  do  not  know 
that  antiquity  speaks  honourably  of  that  degree. 
Eusebius,  in  his  Chronicle,  witnesseth,  that  a  year 
after  our  Lord's  death,  James,  our  Lord's  brother, 
was  established  Bishop  of  Jerusalem ;  and  that, 
ten  years  after,  Euodius  was  created  Bishop  of 
Antioch ;  and  that  after  James  succeeded  Simon 
in  the  bishoprick  of  Jerusalem ;  from  whence 
descended  the  succession  of  bishops  in  Jerusalem. 
St.  Jerome,  in  his  book  of  ecclesiastical  writers, 
saith  that  Polycarp,  St.  John's  disciple,  was  by 
that  apostle  made  Bishop  of  Smyrna.  In  the 
same  book  he  saith  that  St.  Paul  established 
Timothy  Bishop  of  Ephesus,  and  Titus  Bishop  of 
Crete.  And  Tertullian,  in  the  thirty-second  chap- 
ter of  the  book  of  Prescriptions,  callcth  those 
churches  *  apostolical  churches,  and  buds  and 
sprigs  of  the  apostles,  whose  bishops  were  estab- 
lished by  the  apostles,'  <fcc.  If  sometimes  we 
speak  against  the  authority  of  bishops,  we  con- 
demn not  the  Episcopal  order  in  itself,  but  speak 


40  TESTIMONIES  OF  PRESBYTERIANS,  &C. 

only  of  the  corruption  which  the  Church  of  Rome 
has  introduced  into  it." — P.  dii  Moulin'' s  Buckler 
of  Faith,  Lond.  edit.  1631,  p.  345. 

Zanchy,  the  intimate  friend  of  Calvin,  one  of 
the  greatest  and  most  learned  men  among  the 
reformers,  gives  us  the  following  statements : — 

"  So  also  we  acknowledge  that  from  a  perpe- 
tual succession  of  bishops  in  some  Church,  not 
indeed  in  every  one,  but  in  one  which  hath  joined 
to  it  a  continuation  also  of  apostolick  doctrine, 
such  a  Church  may  be  shown  to  be  truly  apostolick; 
such  formerly  was  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  the 
succession  of  its  bishops,  to  the  time  even  of  Ire- 
nseus,  Tertullian,  Cyprian,  and  some  others ;  so 
that  not  uD(!eservediy  those  Fathers  were  accus- 
toiiiod  to  appeal  to  her,  and  others  like  her,  and 
to  refer  to  her  the  hereticks  of  their  times.  So 
indeed  as  to  those  Churches  in  which  the  apos- 
tolick doctrine,  with  Christian  discipline  and  the 
les'itimate  administration  of  the  sacraments,  is 
retained  pure,  although  they  were  not  founded  by 
apostles,  nor  have  a  perpetual  succession  of  bi- 
shops even  from  the  times  of  the  apostles,  never- 
theless we  acknov/ledge  them  for  true  Apostolick 
Churches,  and  we  say  with  Tertullian  and  other 
Fathers,  that  '  they  ought  to  be  acknowledged.' 
So,  on  the  other  hand,  those  which  were  planted 
and  w^atered  by  apostles,  although  they  may  be 
able  distinctly  to  show  a  continued  and  never-in- 
terrupted succession  of  high  priests,  yet  if  they 
are  unable  to  show,  together  with  a  continuation 
of  bishops,  a  continuation  also  of  Christian  and 
apostolick  doctrine,  we  confess  indeed  that  they 
were  Christian  and  Apostolick  Churches,  but  now 
can  we  bv  no  means  acknowledu^e  them  for  such." 
— Be  Ecclesia  Mililante,  vol.  viii.  fol.  537.  Gen. 
edit.  1619. 


IN  FAVOUR  OF  EPISCOPACY.  41 

"  For  wc  do  not  depart  entirely  and  in  all 
things  from  the  Roman  Church,  but  in  those 
things  only  in  which  she  hath  departed  from  the 
ancient  and  pure  Apostolick  Church,  and  so  hath 
departed  from  herself;  nor  do  we  leave  her  with 
any  other  mind  than  this,  that  if  she,  being  cor- 
rected, will  return  to  the  ori<rinal  state  of  the 
Church,  we  also  may  return  to  her,  and  moreover 
hold  communion  with  her  in  her  meetings;  which, 
that  it  may  be  so,  we  pray  our  Lord  Jesus  with  our 
whole  soul ;  for  what  can  be  more  desirable  to  any 
pious  man,  than  that  where  we  are  born  again 
by  baptism,  there  also  we  may  live,  even  to  the 
end,  only  in  the  Lord? 

"I,  Jerome  Zanchy,  with  all  my  family,  wish 
this  may  be  testified  to  the  Church  of  Christ 
through  all  eternity." — Idem.  fol.  540. 

"  For  we  know  that  our  God  is  a  God  of  order, 
and  not  of  confusion;  and  that  the  Church  is  pre- 
served by  order,  and  destroyed  by  irregularity. 
Yf)v  which  reason  he  had  instituted  many  and 
divers  orders  of  ministers,  not  only  formerly  in 
Israel,  but  also  subsequently  in  his  Church,  col- 
lected from  both  Jews  and  Gentiles;  and  for  the 
same  reason  hath  left  it  free  to  his  Churches, 
that  they  should  add  more,  or  not  add  them,  only 
that  that  should  be  done  to  edification.  There- 
fore, notwithstanding  that  at  first  all  ministers  of 
the  word  were  indiscriminately  called  pastors,  bi- 
shops, and  elders,  and  were  also  of  equal  authority; 
afterwards  one  began  to  be  preferred  by  his  other 
colleagues  over  all  the  rest;  not  indeed  as  a  lord, 
but  as  a  rector  or  governor  in  an  academy  ;  and  to 
him  especially  the  care  of  the  whole  Church  was 
committed,  so  that  by  way  of  pre-eminence  (Ka-? 
elox"")  he  alone  was  accustomed  to  be  called  by 

the  name  of  Bishop  and  Pastor,  the  rest  of  his 

4* 


42      TESTIMONIES  OF  PRESBYTERIANS,  &C. 

tellow  priests  being  content  with  the  name  of 
Presbyter ;  so  that  in  every  city  one  only  began 
to  be  bishop,  and  many  presbyters,  and  this  we 
think  can  be  easily  proved." — Idem,  de  Guberna- 
tione  Ecclesice  Militantis,  fol.  545, 

Grotius,  long  celebrated  as  one  of  the  most 
learned  men  of  his  age,  was  a  Dutch  Presbyterian. 
He  wrote  against  Episcopacy ;  yet  even  he  admits 
its  existence  in  the  earliest  ages  of  the  Church, 
and  that  it  was  universally  received.  His  words 
are,  in  his  notes  on  Acts  xxi.  18,  "  He  of  the 
apostles  who  was  at  Jerusalem,  performed  the 
office  which  afterwards  the  bishop  did,  and  there- 
fore called  together  the  presbyters:  unless  per- 
haps this  James  was  the  brother  of  the  Lord — not 
the  apostle,  but  the  bishop.  Of  the  Episcopate, 
therefore,  that  is,  the  superiority  of  one  pastor 
above  the  rest,  we  first  determine  that  it  is  re- 
pugnant to  no  divine  law ;  if  any  one  think  other- 
wise, that  is,  if  any  one  condemn  the  whole  ancient 
Church  of  folly,  or  even  of  impiety,  the  burden 
of  proof,  beyond  doubt,  lies  upon  him.  The  very 
ministry  instituted  by  the  apostles,  sufficiently 
proves  that  equality  of  the  ecclesiastical  officers 
was  not  commanded  by  Christ:  we  therefore  lay 
down  this,  which  is  undoubtedly  true,  that  it 
neither  can  nor  ought  to  be  found  fault  with ;  in 
which  we  have  agreeing  with  us,  Zanchius,  Chem- 
nitius,  Heinengius,  Calvin,  Melanctlion,  Bucer, 
nay,  even  Beza,  as  thus  far  he  says,  •  that  one 
certain  person  chosen  by  the  judgment  of  the  rest 
of  his  co-presbyters,  was  chief  (Trpoe^u^'^  over  the 
presbytery,  and  was  permanently  so.' " 

Not  to  multiply  quotations  (which  were  easy) 
from  this  author,  of  a  similar  kind,  one  more  only 
shall  be  added.     "  Neither  indeed  does  antiquity 


L\  FAVOUR  OF  EPISCOPACY.  43 

declare  that  to  be  true,  which  some  now  boldly 
affirm  that  they  who  were  evangelists  could  not 
be  bishops;  for  as  long  as  they  traversed  pro- 
vinces, they  performed  the  office  of  evangelists ; 
but  when  beholding  a  plentiful  harvest  in  one 
place,  they  believed  it  should  be  cherished  by  their 
continual  presence,  without  doubt,  presiding  in  the 
Presbytery,  they  performed  the  office  of  bishops." 
— Gro,  de  Ver.  chap.  xi.  §  3. 

Melancthon,  the  companion  and  fellow-labourer 
of  Luther,  says,  "  I  would  to  God  it  lay  in  me  to 
restore  the  government  of  bishops,  for  I  see  what 
manner  of  Church  we  shall  have,  the  ecclesiastical 
polity  being  dissolved.  I  do  see  that  hereafter 
there  will  grow  up  a  greater  tyranny  in  the 
Church  than  ever  was  before." — Apol.  Aug.  Con. 
p.  305. 

Was  he  a  prophet  ?  surely,  if  not,  he  was  won- 
derfully endowed  with  the  talent  of  perspicacity. 

In  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  Luther,  the  fol- 
lowing expression  appears: — 

"  Zuingle  has  sent  hither,  in  print,  his  confes- 
sion of  faitli.  You  would  say  neither  more  nor  less 
than  that  he  is  not  in  his  senses.  At  one  stroke 
he  would  abolish  all  ceremonies,  and  he  would  have 
no  bishojjs.^^ — Milncr^s  Hist.  vol.  v.  p.  577. 

To  these  might  be  added  a  long  list  of  their 
cotcmporaries,  men  of  the  lirst  standing,  of  the 
greatest  literature  and  piety,  amongst  the  Re- 
formers. 

\\\  later  times,  men  of  the  greatest  eminence, 
and  renowned  for  their  literature  in  the  Reformed 
Churches,  have  uttered  similar  sentiments. 

The  noted  Jean  Daille,  pastor  of  the  church  at 


44       TESTIMONIES  OF  PRESBYTERIANS,  &.C. 

Charenton,  a  vehement  stickler  for  Presbytery, 
and  who  has  been  quoted  by  the  author  of  "  the 
Review,"  &-c.  as  bearing  strongly  against  Episco- 
pacy, in  one  of  his  sermons  thus  writes :  *'  Do  the 
work  of  an  EvangelisV^     "  It  is  true,  that  if  we 
confine  ourselves  simply  to  the  form  and  origin  of 
the  word  evangelist,  it  signifies,  in  general,  every 
man  who  evangelizes,   that  is  to  say,  who  an- 
nounces or  preaches  the  Gospel,  whatever  may 
be  the  order  he  sustains.     But  it  is  evident  that, 
in  the  usage  of  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament, 
it  is  the  name  of  a  distinct  peculiar  charge, 
and  not  common  to  all  the  ministers  of  the  word 
of  God.     St.  Paul  teaches  us  so,  clearly  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  where,  recounting  the 
difi:erent  sorts  of  ministers  which  Jesus  has  estab- 
lished in  his  Church  for  its  edification,  he  says, 
'  He  gave  some  to  he  apostles,  and  others  to  he  pro- 
phets, and  others  to  he  evangelists,  and  others,  in  fine, 
to  he  iKistors  and  teachers.'^   There  you  see  he  takes 
the  word  evangelist  in  the  same  light  as  that  of 
apostle  and  prophet,  of  pastor  and  teacher,  for  an 
express  charge  instituted  by  the  Lord,  and  that 
he  distinguishes  and  separates  it  from  the  others, 
of  which  he  makes  the  enumeration.     And  we 
learn  also,  from  the  rank  which  he  gives  to  each 
one  of  these  ministers,  that  the  evangelist  v/as  less 
than  the  apostle  and  prophet,  but  greater  than  the 
pastor  and  teacher.     The  evangelist,  then,  was 
above  the  common  pastors  of  each  church,  and  his 
rank  was  in  the  midst  of  them  and  the  apostles, 
higher  than  the  former,  but  far  beneath  that  of 
the  apostles,  whose  ministry  was  supreme,  ex- 
alted over  all  the  Church,  in  the  throne  of  an  es- 
tablished power  and  glory,  to  judge  the  whole 
Israel  of  God.     The  example  of  Timothy  and 
of  Philip  evince  to  us  that  this  order  of  ministry 


IN  FAVOUR  OF  EPISCOPACY.  45 

was  not  definitely  attached  to  an  individual  flock, 
but  had  this  in  common  with  the  apostleship,  that 
it  was  employed  in  all  places  indifferently^  ac- 
cording' as  occasion  might  require;  to  announce 
the  Gos{)el,  to  lay  the  foundation  of  the  faith,  or 
to  establish  it;  to  regulate  the  churches,  or  to 
remedy  the  disorders,  if  such  should  occur,  against 
which  the  pastors  and  elders  could  not  provide; 
these  evangelists  were  as  the  assistants  (les  aides) 
of  the  holy  apostles,  who  helped  them  and  served 
them,  either  accompanying  them,  or  going  to  ex- 
ecute their  orders  in  the  places  whither  they  sent 
them,  according  to  the  necessities  of  the  Church." 
— Ser.  XXX,  sur  VHpitre  ii.  d  Tim, 

"  Neglect  not  the  gift  that  is  in  thee,  wliicli  icas 
given  thee  hy  prophecy^  icith  laying  on  of  the  hands 
of  the  presbytery^  or  of /the  ministers.  It  is  true 
that  he  here  says,  (2  Tim.  ii.  5,)  it  was  he  himself 
who  imposeil  his  hands  upon  Timothy,  whilst  in 
the  other  passage  he  attributes  this  imposition  of 
hands  to  the  assembly  of  presbyters  or  ministers. 
But  there  is  no  difficulty  in  this  statement,  since 
this  action  might  be  truly  attributed  both  to  St. 
Paul  and  to  the  company  of  ministers,  in  the  midst 
cf  whom  it  was  done.  All  the  company,  after  that 
Timothy  had  been  presented  to  it  by  the  Church, 
having  approved  his  gifts,  resolved  that  he  should 
be  received  into  this  charge.  Afterwards,  ac- 
cording to  this  decree,  or  this  ordination  of  the 
company,  the  apostle  St.  Paul,  as  its  chief  and  its 
president,  performed  in  its  name,  with  its  consent 
and  its  authority,  the  ceremony  of  ordination,  im- 
posing his  hands  upon  Timothy,  and  consecrating 
him  to  the  holy  ministry  by  his  prayer  and  by  his 
benediction;  whence  it  appears  that  it  was  both 
he  and  his  company  who  laid  hands  on  him ;  the 
company  by  its  voice  and  its  assistance,  by  its 


46       TESTIMONIES  OP  PRESBYTERIANS,  &C. 

assent  and  by  the  authority  of  its  decree,  St.  Paul 
as  the  head  and  principal  member  of  the  com- 
pany, and  the  executor  of  its  decree." — Serin*  iii. 
sur  la  ii.  Epit.  d  Tim. 

Benedict  Pictet,  professor  of  theology  at  Ge- 
neva, was  a  profound  scholar,  so  noted,  that  an 
abridgment  of  his  theology  in  Latin  is  made  the 
text-book  in  several  of  the  English  theological 
seminaries,  and  indeed  in  some  of  the  Presbyte^ 
rian  seminaries  of  a  similar  kind  in  America, 
where  he  is  deservedly  held  in  high  esteem.  But 
his  testimony  is  still  stronger;  he  says  in  his 
larger  work,  written  in  French,  and  entitled  "La 
Theologie  Chretienne:" — 

"  We  must  not  doubt  that  in  each  consistory 
there  was  a  pastor  who  presided  in  the  assemblies, 
collecting  the  votes  and  pronouncing  the  determi- 
nation. Whether  it  were  that  the  order  of  his 
reception,  or  the  determination  of  his  brethren, 
gave  him  this  rank ;  on  this  account  it  is  that  he 
is  spoken  of  as  the  angel  of  the  churches.  Apoc. 
c.  ii."  In  a  marginal  note  to  this  expression,  he 
says,  "  The  Jews  gave  the  title  of  angel  to  their 
High  Priest,  and  also  to  the  ruler  of  their  syna- 
gogue." 

"  A  little  time  after  the  death  of  the  apostles, 
one  of  the  pastors  was  called  Bishop,  and  had  some 
pre-eminence  over  the  others,  in  the  Church  of 
Alexandria,  after  the  death  of  Mark,  and  in  other 
churches;  although  St.  Polycarp,  in  writing  to 
the  Philippians,  speaks  only  to  them  of  the  sub- 
mission they  ought  to  maintain  to  their  presbyters 
and  deacons,  without  making  any  mention  of  their 
bishop,  who,  in  truth,  at  that  time  might  be  dead." 

To  this  is  affixed  the  following  marginal  note : 

**  We  must  confess,  that  in  a  letter  of  Adrian, 


IN  FAVOUR  OP  EPISCOPACY.  47 

referred  to  by  Flavius  Vopiscus,  mention  is  made 
of  a  patriarch ;  but  it  is  probable  that  the  reference 
is  to  a  patriarch  of  the  Jews,  as  many  learned  men 
have  proved.  The  Jews  had  one  patriarch  at 
Babylon  until  the  thirteenth  age,  and  at  Tiberias 
till  the  commencement  of  the  fifteenth  age." 

*'  J  do  not  make  these  remarks  as  if  I  con- 
demned the  churches  where  Episcopacy  is  es- 
tablished; 1  am  convinced  that  the  Reformed 
Churches  ought  not  to  disquiet  one  another  upon 
the  subject  of  exterior  government,  and  that  it 
ought  to  be  left  free  to  all  the  churches  to  govern 
themselves  in  the  way  which  shall  seem  to  them 
most  expedient.  True  it  is  that  the  Confessions 
of  Faith  of  the  churches  of  France  say,  that  all 
the  pastors  have  an  equal  authority  and  an  equal 
power  under  Jesus  Christ;  but  the  design  of  the 
Confession  was  not  to  exclude  all  sort  of  subordi- 
nation among  the  pastors;  it  excludes  only 
THE  Roman  Hierarchy  ;  and  it  has  not  defined 
the  right  of  pastors  as  a  matter  of  divine,  universal, 
and  perpetual  right;  for  never  have  they  con- 
tended to  reduce  all  the  churches  to  the  same  ex- 
terior form.  This  is  evident  from  the  union  which 
has  always  subsisted  between  the  Reformed 
Churches  of  Geneva,  of  Switzerland,  of  France, 
and  of  Holland,  on  the  one  part,  and  the  English 
Church  on  the  other.  And  this  is  further  evident, 
because  a  great  number  of  theologians,  attached 
to  the  Confessions  of  France  and  Holland,  have 
recognised  the  English  Episcopacy  as  a  legiti- 
mate order.  We  may  see  thereon  the  letters  of 
Calvin  to  Cranmer,  to  Grindal,  his  Treatise  on  the 
Necessity  of  the  Reformation,  his  Letter  to  Ed- 
ward Seymour,  in  the  year  1543.  Beza's  book 
against  Saravia.  The  English  Church  has  always 
been  held  in  the  highest  estimation  by  the  Church 


48  TESTIMONIES  OF  PRESBYTERIANS,  &C. 

at  Geneva.  We  may  see  thereupon  what  says 
Jacobus  Lectius,  the  famous  civihan  and  counsel- 
lor of  our  republick,  in  his  book  against  '  Le  Code 
Fabrien,'  liv.  xi.  p.  241 ;  the  letter  of  the  cele- 
brated Mr.  Diodati,  which  was  printed  by  Mr. 
Durell,  and  that  of  Spanheim  to  the  great  Usher. 

"  With  respect  to  France,  the  theologians  of  this 
kingdom  have  expressed  their  sentiments  on 
various  occasions.  We  have  only  to  read  the  letter 
of  Mr.  Drelincourt  to  Mr.  Brevint,  that  of  Mr. 
Bochart  upon  the  subject  of  Episcopacy,  that  which 
Mr.  Amyraut  has  written  in  various  letters,  Mr. 
Louis  Cappel  in  his  essays,  the  letters  of  Messrs. 
Rondolet  and  Guyon,  those  of  Mr.  Du  Bosc,  of 
Mr.  Le  Moyne,  of  Mr.  L'Angle,  and  of  Mr.  Claude 
to  the  illustrious  Bishop  of  London." — Pict.  Theol. 
Chret.  tom.  ii.  p.  396,  397. 

"  In  the  second  age  there  appears  then  to  have 
been  only  three  orders,  bishops,  presbyters,  and 
deacons." — Idem,  p.  397» 

Mr.  Du  Bosc,  of  whom  mention  has  previously 
been  made,  was  pastor  of  the  church  at  Rouen : 
though  often  invited  to  preside  over  them  by  the 
church  at  Charenton,  such  was  his  attachment  to 
his  people,  that  he  would  not  leave  them ;  such 
was  the  high  estimation  in  which  his  talents  were 
held,  that  more  than  once  wtiS  a  bishoprick  offered 
him  by  the  French  king,  if  he  would  conform  to 
the  Roman  Catholick  Church.  He  was  looked  up 
to  by  the  French  Protestants  as  the  greatest  man 
in  their  community,  and  repeatedly  was  he  charged 
with  the  office  of  delegate  from  the  Presbyterian 
churches  to  plead  their  cause  with  their  king.  It 
is  not  too  much  to  say  of  him,  that  he  was  the 
greatest  divine  in  Europe  of  his  day.  Bayle,  in 
his  dictionary,  narrates  the  following  anecdote : — 


IN  FAVOUR  OP  EPISCOPACY.  49 

**  Wlien  I  was  at  Caen,"  says  the  celebrated 
Menage,  (who  was  a  CathoUck,)  "  I  heard  the  mi- 
nister Dii  Bosc  preach;  I  never  heard  a  minister 
preach  but  then."  The  following  is  an  extract 
from  a  letter  of  his  addressed  to  Mr.  Brevint, 
chaplain  to  the  British  king  in  1650: — 

"  I  learn  that  he"  (the  king)  "  purposes  to  re- 
establish the  Episcopacy  ;  but  in  making  it,  to  be 
so  moderate  and  reformed  that  in  it  shall  be  still 
seen  all  the  air  of  the  ancient  Church  discipline. 
This  is  a  design  worthy  of  him  :  it  will  secure  to 
him  the  benedictions  of  heaven  and  earth,  and 
gain  for  him  the  approbation  of  all  good  men. 
For  though  we  live  under  another  mode  of  disci- 
pline in  our  kingdom,  let  it  not  nevertheless  be 
imagined  that  we  disapprove  of  Episcopacy  when 
it  is  well  and  legitimately  administered.     How 
could  any  one  entertain  such  an  opinion  of  us, 
after  the  declaration  so  solemn  which  Calvin  has 
made  thereupon  in  his  epistle  to  Cardinal  Lando- 
let,  in  speaking  of  the  order  and  dignity  of  bishops, 
when  they  limit  themselves  by  the  rules  of  their 
duty,  and  by  the  boundaries  of  a  Christian  mode- 
ration?    '  i/i'  says  he,  '  there  he  found  persons  who 
refuse  to  respect  such  a  hierarchy,  I  hold  them  de- 
serving every  kind  of  anathema.'*     I  might  add 
multitudes  of  other  formal   passages  from  our 
Reformers,  but  this  is  sufficient  to  make  known  to 
all  the  world  what  is  the  sentiment  of  our  churches ; 
and  I  should  remember  that  I  am  writing  a  letter, 
and  not  composing  a  book.  We  condemn,  in  truth, 
the  abuse  of  Episcopacy.     We  detest  the  pride, 
the  pomp,  and  luxury  of  it,  so  contrary  to  the 
humility  and  simplicity  of  the  ministers  of  Christ 
Jesus.     We  condemn  the  great   and   immense 
riches  which  serve  only  to  corrupt  those  who  pos- 
sess them,  and  to  carry  them  into  the  worldly- 

5 


50      TESTIMONIES  OF  PRESBYTERIANS,  &.C. 

mindedness  of  the  age,  to  somnolize  them  in  ease, 
and  make  them  to  despise  the  Uttle  and  to  offend 
the  great — to  maintain  the  hfe,  not  of  pastors  of 
the  sheep,  but  of  lords  of  the  court  and  governors 
of  provinces,  only  to  deck  themselves  after  the 
fashion  of  her  who  is  all  glittering  with  purple, 
adorned  with  precious  stones  and  pearls,  and  who 
holds  in  her  hand  a  golden  cup.     We  condemn 
the  tyranny  which  converts  a  primacy  of  order 
into  a  supreme  domination.     We  cannot  suffer 
these  Diotrephes,  who  so  love  to  be  the  first,  that 
they  will  tyrannize  over  the  heritage  of  the  Lord. 
We  reject  the  maxim  which  maintains  that  a 
bishop  among  the  clergy  is  not  as  a  consul  in  his 
senate,  but  as  a  prince  in  his  court,  and  as  a  king 
amongst  his  officers  and  his  counsellors.     This  is 
directly  opposed  to  the  words  of  our  Saviour,  who 
said  to  his  apostles,    '  The  kings  of  the  Gentiles 
exercise  lordship  over  thein^  and  they  that  are  great 
exercise  authority ;  hut  it  shall  not  he  so  with  you."* 
In  fine,  we  cannot  allow  that  a  bishop  assume  to 
himself  all  the  authority  of  the  presbytery ;  that 
he  alone  should  have  the  power  of  ordination,  of 
deposition,   of  excommunication;   and   that  the 
government  of  the  Church  should  be  lodged  in  his 
hands  alone. 

*'  But,  with  these  exceptions,  we  honour  and 
esteem,  as  much  as  any,  the  Episcopacy.  We 
know  that,  for  more  than  1500  years,  (written  in 
1650,)  it  has  been  established  in  the  Church; 
that  it  has  advantageously  served  Christianity; 
that  it  has  produced  great  men,  holy  martyrs, 
and  admirable  lights,  which  have  illumined  the 
world,  and  will  yet  illumine  it,  by  their  writings. 
We  acknowledge  that  this  order  has  singular  ad- 
vantages, which  cannot  be  found  in  Presbyterian 
discipline*     If  we  have  followed  the  latter  in  our 


IN  FAVOUR  OF  EPISCOPACY.  51 

churches,  it  is  not  because  we  have  any  aversion 
for  the  former.  It  is  not  because  we  esteem  Epis- 
copacy less  accordant  with  the  nature  of  the  Gos- 
pel, less  proper  for  the  Church,  less  worthy  the 
condition  of  the  true  flocks  of  the  Lord ;  but  be- 
cause NECESSITY  obliges  us  to  it :  because  the 
reformation  having  begun  in  our  kingdom  amongst 
the  people  and  simple  ecclesiasticks,  the  places  of 
bishops  remain  filled  by  those  of  a  contrary  reli- 
gion ;  and  from  this  cause  we  were  constrained 
to  content  ourselves  with  having  pastors  and 
elders,  from  fear  of  opposing  in  one  city  bishop 
against  bishop,  which  would  doubtless  have  caused 
furious  troubles  and  implacable  wars. 

"  If  the  bishops  had  at  first  embraced  the  refor- 
mation, I  do  not  doubt  but  that  their  order  would 
have  been  maintained  in  the  ecclesiastical  polity ; 
and  I  find  a  convincing  proof  of  it  in  an  epistle  of 
Martyr;  it  is  the  fifty-seventh  which  he  writes  to 
Theodore  Beza.  He  speaks  to  him  of  the  bishop 
of  Troy,  in  Champagne,  where  Christ  had  col- 
lected a  large  and  numerous  Church.  He  says 
that  the  prelate  of  this  Church,  having  known  the 
truth,  set  about  preaching  it  piiblickiy;  and  as  he 
was  an  excellent  man,  that  he  powerfully  ad- 
vanced the  kingdom  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  But  that 
having  entertained  a  scruple  with  regard  to  his 
vocation,  which  he  feared  might  not  be  legitimate, 
he  assembled  the  elders  of  the  Reformed  Church, 
to  know  from  them  if  they  would  acknowledge 
him  as  their  bishop;  and  besought  them  maturely 
to  deliberate  thereupon:  which  having  done  with 
all  requisite  j)rudence  and  wisdom,  they  unani- 
mouslv  declared  that  they  received  him  as  their 
true  and  legitimate  bishop.  Who  doubts  but  that 
if  the  other  prelates  of  the  kingdom  had  followed 
his  example,  and  given,  like  him,  glory  to  God, 


52  TESTIMONIES  OP  PRESBYTERIANS,  &C. 

they  also  would  have  remained  in  their  stations, 
and  that  their  dignity  would  have  been  preserved 
to  them?  since  Martyr,  in  this  epistle,  approves 
both  the  action  of  the  bishop  and  the  resolution 
of  the  elders.     He  wrote  of  it  to  Beza,  as  of  a 
thing  for  which  he  blessed  the  Lord,  and  in  which 
he  knew  that  this  great  servant  of  the  Lord  would 
rejoice  with  him.     We  must  not  then  draw  any 
consequences  from  our  churches  against  those  of 
England,*   for  in   them  the   reformation  having 
been  commenced  by  the  prelates  and  the  bishops, 
we  must  not  be  astonished  if  the  Episcopal  go- 
vernment has  always  continued.     And  if  there 
should  be  found  persons  so  deeply  in  love  with 
Presbyterian   parity,    (^c-orjj?®-  spa^-ca)   as    speaks 
Isidore  of  Pelusium,  to  wish  to  oppose  this  an- 
cient order,  and  to  subvert  it  entirely,   at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  repose  of  the  Church,  they  cannot 
fail  to  be  blamed." — Vie  de  Dii  Bosc,  (Eum'es^ 
tom.  viii.  p.  21 — 25. 

Beausobre,  another  learned  Presbyterian  di- 
vine, whose  praise  as  a  theologian  is  in  all  the 
churches,  says : — 

"  It  is  said,  and  all  antiquity  incessantly  re- 
peats it,  that  the  deacons  in  the  Christian  Church 
are  the  successors  of  the  Levites,  the  pastors  of 
the  priests,  and  that,  in  fine,  the  bishops  are  the 
successors  of  the  high  priests. 

"  But  it  may  be  asked.  Were  there  also  bishops 
distinguished  from  the  presbyters  in  these  times 
— in  the  apostolick  times  ?  This  is  the  subject  of 
great  and  obstinate  contests,  not  only  amongst 
the  Protestants  and  Roman  Catholicks,  but  be- 
tween the  Protestant  Churches  and  the  Reformed 
Churches.  This  question  is  not  a  point  now  for 
my  discussion.     I  will  only  say,  that  a  Christian, 


IN  FAVOUR  OF  EPISCOPACY.  53 

who  loves  the  peace  and  union  of  the  Church, 
"  will  never  cause  a  schism  for  the  difference  of 
government ;  and  if  he  does,  he  must  answer  for 
it  before  God.     I  will  say,  in  the  second  place, 
that   Episcopacy,    having   been   established   and 
accepted  by  the  universal  Church,  it  ought  to  be 
as  much  respected  as  we   respect  in  states  the 
governments  established,  although  they  may  not 
have  been  the  same  in  their  origin  and  in  the 
foundations  of  republicks.     I  will  say,  in  the  third 
place,  that  if,  by  the  bishop  we  understand  the 
first,  or  the  president  of  the  college  of  elders  or 
of  presbyters.  Episcopacy  is  as  old  as  the  Chris- 
tian Church.     I  will  say,  in  the  fourth  place,  that 
if  the  bishops  had  not  opposed  the  reformation 
with  all  their  might,  the  reformers  would  never 
have  attacked  Episcopacy,  although,  by  course  of 
time,  it  had  acquired  an  authority  which  certainly 
never  emanated  from  Christ  and  his  apostles :  I 
will  say  more — it  is  this — that  if  the  pontiffs  of 
Rome  had  been  content  with  being  patriarchs  of 
the  West,  and  if  they  liad  not  been  the  tyrants, 
the  oppressors  of  TRUTH,  and  of  those  who  made 
noble  and  holy  efforts  to  draw  her  forth  from  the 
tomb  in  which  she  had  been  buried,  never  would 
the  reformers   have  thought  of  shaking  off  the 
yoke  of  the  Pope." — Beaiisoh'e,  Serm.  siir  Rom^ 
xii.  ver.  7,  3. 

Such  are  the  sentiments  of  the  greatest,  wisest, 
and  best  of  men  who  ever  graced  the  Presbyterian 
churches ;  and  such  quotations  as  these  might  be 
multiplied  to  a  very  great  extent ;  but  surely,  to 
every  candid  mind,  these  must  afford  evidence 
that  Episcopacy  did  not  arise,  as  some  modern 
sciolists  would  tell  us,  only  between  the  second  and 
the  fourth  centuries*   What  t  these  men,  scholars 

5* 


54      TESTIMONIES  OP  PRESBYTERIANS,  &C. 

SO  profound  as  far  to  surpass  the  moderns  who 
contradict  them — these  giants  in  intellect  and 
literature,  compared  with  whom  most  of  our 
learned  professors  are  mere  pigmies — these  men, 
having  greater  facilities  of  ascertaining  facts,  by 
living  so  much  nearer  to  the  early  ages,  and  hav- 
ing books  then  in  vogue,  which  are  now  lost,  or 
only  with  extreme  difficulty  obtained — these  men, 
Avho  had  so  deep  an  interest  at  stake,  and  who 
would,  if  possible,  have  denounced  Episcopacy  as 
an  imposture — these  men,  unable  to  find  out  that 
Episcopacy  was  not  known  till  about  the  third 
century,  nay,  all  contending  that  it  existed  in  the 
very  first  age,  and  most  of  them  that  it  existed 
in  the  days  of  the  apostles — these  men  mistaken, 
and  the  moderns  only  able  to  arrive  at  the  truth  ! ! 
"  Credat  Judseus  Apella." 

There  is  one  fact  which  fully  demonstrates 
upon  this  subject  the  real  sentiments  of  Calvin, 
and  the  other  reformers  of  his  day ;  and  it  will 
weigh  more  with  every  seriously  reflecting  mind 
than  whole  volumes  of  argumentation.  This  fact 
is  recorded  by  Strype,  an  historian  whose  accu- 
racy and  veracity  are  indubitable.     Strype  says, 

"  They  (the  foreign  Protestants)  took  such  joy 
and  satisfaction  in  this  good  king  (Edward  YI.) 
and  his  establishment  of  religion,  that  BuUinger, 
Calvin,  and  others,  in  a  letter  to  him,  offered  to 
make  him  their  defender,  and  to  have  bishops  in 
their  churches,  as  there  were  in  England  ;  with 
a  tender  of  their  service  to  assist  and  unite  to- 
gether."—-^S^ry^e's  Memoir  of  Cranmer,  p.  207. 

How  this  attempt  of  Calvin's  was  frustrated  will 
appear  from  the  following  paper,  which  was  found 
among  the  manuscripts  of  Archbishop  Usher,  in 
the  hand-writing  of  Archbishop  Parker. 


IN  FAVOUR  OF  EPISCOPACY.  55 

*'  Perusing  some  papers  of  our  predecessor, 
Matthew  Parker,  we  find  that  John  Calvin  and 
others  of  the  Protestant  Churches  of  Germany 
and  elsewhere,  would  have  had  Episcopacy,  if 
permitted.  And  whereas  John  Calvin  had  sent 
a  letter,  in  King  Edward  VI. 's  reign,  to  have  con- 
ferred with  the  clergy  of  England  about  some 
things  to  this  effect,  two  (Popish)  bishops,  viz. 
Gardiner  and  Bonner,  intercepted  the  same;  where- 
by Mr.  Calvin's  offerture  perished.  And  he  re- 
ceived an  answer,  as  if  it  had  been  from  the 
reformed  divines  of  those  times,  wherein  they 
checked  him  and  slighted  his  proposals.  Frora 
which  time  John  Calvin  and  the  Church  of  Ens*- 
land  were  at  variance  in  several  points ;  which 
otherwise,  through  God's  mercy,  had  been  quali- 
fied, if  those  papers  of  his  proposals  had  been 
discovered  unto  the  queen's  majesty  during  John 
Calvin's  life.  But  not  being  discovered  until  or 
about  the  sixth  year  of  her  majesty's  reign,  her 
majesty  much  lamented  they  were  not  found 
sooner  ;  which  she  expressed  before  her  council, 
at  the  same  time,  in  the  presence  of  her  great 
friends,  Sir  Henry  Sidney  and  Sir  William  Cecil." 
— Stri/pe's  Life  of  Parker,  p.  70. 

The  man,  then,  who,  with  these  evidences  be- 
fore him,  asserts  that  Episcopacy  did  not  originate 
till  between  the  second  and  fourth  centuries,  or 
who  has  the  hardihood  to  assert  that  the  first 
reformers  of  the  Church  of  England  were  sub- 
stantially Presbyterians,  defames,  and  he  knows 
that  he  defames;  and  whilst  excess  of  charity 
may  lead  some  pious  persons  to  attribute  the 
moral  malady  under  which  he  labours  to  his  head, 
there  may  perhaps  be  found  some  who  think 
themselves  not  uncharitable  in  ascribing  it  to  his 
heart. 


LETTER   V. 

EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  THE  TESTIMONY  OF 

THE  FATHERS. 


Right  Rev.  and  dear  Sir, 

From   examining  the   admissions  of  those  who 
have  been  the  abettors  of  an  opposite  system  of 
Church  government,  and  whose  testimony  is  of 
no  small  moment,  we  may  proceed  to  consult  the 
records  of  the  Fathers  of  the  earliest  ages,  which 
have  been  carefully  preserved,  and  handed  down 
to  us.     These  might  be  traced  upwards  through 
several  centuries,  but  as  the  most  wise  and  re- 
nowned of  the  Presbyterians  do  not  attempt  to 
dispute   the    existence  of  universal   Episcopacy 
after  the  second  age  of  the  Church,  and  as  there 
are  none  but  who  admit  it  as  having  obtained  in 
the  third,  or,  at  furthest,  the  fourth  century,  so  it 
will  only  be  necessary  to  refer  to  the  writings  of 
such  as  in  the  last  mentioned  periods,  or  previ- 
ously,   bear    testimony   upon   this   point.     Here 
again  the  same  difficulty  occurs  as  on  a  former 
argument,  viz.  the  multiplicity  of  evidence.     It 
is  hard  to  select  and  to  refuse,  when  so  many 
present  important  and  equally  strong  testimony; 
but  out  of  ike  mouth  of  two  or  three  witnesses,  say 
the  Scriptures,  shall  every  ivord  "  he  established.''^ 
And  to  this  species  of  proof  (quotations  from 
the  Fathers,  and  their  testimony  upon  the  subject) 
no  valid  objections  can  possibly  be  raised  by  any 


EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED,  &C.  57 

reasonable  being.  To  argue  against  the  reception 
thereof,  would  be  to  argue  against  all  history  of 
whatev^er  kind,  since  we  are  indebted  for  all  our 
acquaintance  with  past  events  to  the  records  of 
those  persons  who  witnessed  them,  and  who  were 
co-temporary  with  their  occurrence.  But  who 
ever  thonglit  of  rejecting  such  traditions  ?  So  to 
do,  would  be  to  set  at  nought  all  history,  to  brand 
all  mankind  as  fools ;  it  would  be  by  one  sweeping 
stroke  to  blot  out,  not  only  the  memorials  of  all 
antiquity,  but  also  to  nullify  revelation  itself, 
which  is  a  registration  of  facts,  (every  doctrine  of 
Scripture  being  a  fact^  for  the  authenticity  of 
which  we  are  indebted  to  the  testimonv  of  these 
identical  Fathers,)  and  thus  to  obliterate  even 
Christianity  itself.  Any  objection  of  this  kind,  if 
it  were  brought,  would,  by  attempting  to  prove 
too  much,  prove  nothing. 

Neither  can  any  reasonable  objection  be  raised 
against  the  character  of  such  witnesses.  Where 
is  the  foul  calumniator  to  be  found,  the  image  of 
him  who  is  emphatically  called  "  the  accuser  of  the 
hrcthren,^^  who  would  dare  to  impeach  them  of 
dishonesty  ?  If  they  stated  as  fact,  that  which 
all  in  their  day  knew  to  be  falsehood,  refutation 
would  have  been  easy,  and,  in  the  collision  of  par- 
ties, must  certainly  have  taken  place  ;  besides,  no 
possible  motive  can  be  assigned  why  they  should 
have  attempted  to  deceive,  but  every  reason  can 
be  shown  why  they  should  not  have  done  so. 
Were  thev  not  men  of  irood  morals?  of  exalted 
piety  ?  not  only  teachers  of  Christianity,  but  many 
of  them  her  nmrtyrs  ?  men  who  "  loved  not  their 
lives  even  unto  the  deatli'^  for  the  cause  of  truth? 
To  such  men,  then,  every  candid  mind  would 
listen,  and  none  but  he  who  should  argue  from 
his  own  evil  disposition,  would  be  disposed  to 


58  EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  THE 

dispute  their  testimony.  If  the  records  of  a 
Xenophoii,  a  Livy,  a  Tacitus,  a  Hume,  a  Claren- 
don, with  multitudes  of  others,  are  considered  as 
deserving  of  credence,  and  are  received  as  authen- 
tick,  surely  those  of  the  ministers  of  Christ,  and 
especially  his  devoted  martyrs,  are  entitled  to  the 
same  reception.  Besides,  the  very  men  who 
pretend  to  reject  them,  never  fail,  when  they  can, 
to  avail  themselves  of  their  writings,  if  they  think 
they  find  therein  any  thing  that  can  subserve 
their  own  cause. 

Now  there  are  few  things  of  which  we  cannot 
trace  the  origin.  We  have  found  out  the  source 
of  the  Nile;  we  can  follow  back  to  their  com- 
mencement, the  foundations  of  empires;  we  can 
ascertain  the  very  first  germ  and  nucleus  of  the 
Assyrian,  Persian,  Grecian,  and  Roman  monar- 
chies ;  we  can  determine  the  period  of  the  birth  of 
every  society ;  borne  down  by  the  current  of  reve- 
lation, we  can  perceive  the  origin  of  the  Jewish 
Church,  we  can  understand  the  time  of  the  for- 
mation of  man,  and  certify  ourselves  of  the  birth 
of  creation.  We  can  in  later  times  define  when 
arose  Presbyterianism,  Congregationalism,  Qua- 
kerism, Methodism,  and  a  multitude  of  other 
*'  isms."  But,  in  the  midst  of  all  these,  according 
to  most  of  its  opponents.  Episcopacy  is  an  ano- 
maly. Of  late,  however,  some  learned  Presby- 
terians have  delved  in  the  dust  and  rubbish  of 
past  ages.  One  of  them,  doubtless  highly  gifted 
for  the  purpose,  and  delighted  with  his  wonderful 
discoveries,  exclaims  triumphantly,  evpr^Kcc,  svpmx, 
(I  have  found  it,  I  have  found  it.)  Where  .^ 
where?  is  the  inquiry.  Oh!  it  is  somewhere 
between  the  third  and  fourth  centuries.  But 
where  there .^  when  did  it  appear?  Alas!  alas! 
it  is  so  mercurial  in  its  nature,  that,  just  as  he 


TESTIMONY  OF  THE  FATHERS.  59 

pounces  upon  it,  it  glides  away  from  his  touch, 
and,  after  all  his  vapouring  and  pedantry,  he  finds 
himself  still  remaining  "  in  statu  quo."  He  re- 
sembles the  mariner,  who,  having  lost  his  reckon- 
ing, sees,  as  he  thinks,  some  hills  at  a  distance, 
and  cries.  Land!  land!  but  the  clouds  have  de- 
ceived him,  and,  after  long  toiling  and  sailing,  he 
finds  himself  as  distant  from  it  as  ever,  till  the 
sun  shines  upon  it  and  it  vanishes,  the  airy  phan- 
tom dispersing  beneath  its  beams. 

But  to  the  point — the  testimony  of  the  Fathers. 

St.  Jerome,  who  lived  in  the  year  of  the  Chris- 
tian era  378,  and  who  is  adduced  by  the  oppo- 
nents of  Episcopacy  as  furnishing  them  with  the 
strongest  arguments  of  this  kind  of  testimony 
against  it.     St.  Jerome  says  as  follows: — 

"  That  we  may  know  that  the  apostolick  tradi- 
tions were  taken  from  the  Old  Testament,  that 
which  Aaron  and  his  sons  and  the  Levites  were 
in  the  temple,  let  the  bishops,  presbyters,  and 
deacons  claim  to  themselves  in  the  Church." — 
Epis.  ad  Evagrium. 
Airain : 

"  Ignatius,  the  third  bishop  of  the  Church  of 
Antioch  after  the  Apostle  Peter,  in  the  persecu- 
tion under  Trajan,  was  condemned  to  wild  beasts. 
And  when  he  came  to  Smyrna,  where  Polycarp, 
the  disciple  of  John,  was  bishop,  he  wrote  an 
epistle  to  the  Ephcsians,  another  to  the  Mag- 
nesians,  a  third  to  the  Trallians,  a  fourth  to  the 
Romans.  And  when  he  was  gone  thence,  he 
wrote  to  the  Piiiladelphians,  the  Smyrneans,  and 
in  particular  to  Polycarp." — De  Illus,  Horn. 
Again: 

"  The  apostles  were  thy  fathers,  because  they 
begat  thee ;  but  now  that  they  have  left  the  world, 


60  EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  THE 

thou  hast  in  their  stead  their  sons,  the  bishops." — 
Ad,  Eccles. 

Again : 

*'  Without  the  bishop's  Hcense,  neither  presby- 
ter or  deacon  has  a  right  to  baptize." — Dial. 
Adver.  Luc.  chap.  iv. 

Again : 

"  Be  thou  subject  to  thy  bishop,  (pontifici,)  and 
look  upon  him  as  the  parent  of  thy  soul." — Epis. 
ad  Nepotanium. 

Writing  also  to  Riparius  concerning  the  conduct 
of  Vigilantius,  a  refractory  presbyter,  he  says  : — 

*'  I  wonder  that  the  holy  bishop  in  whose  dio- 
cese this  presbyter  is  said  to  be,  should  submit  to 
his  madness,  and  not  break  this  useless  vessel 
with  his  apostolick  and  iron  rod." — Epis.  ad  Ra- 
parium.  , 

Again: 

*'  After  that,  one  was  chosen,  who  was  preferred 
to  the  rest,  that  a  remedy  might  be  found  for 
schism,  lest  each  one  drawing  to  himself,  should 
break  the  Church  of  Christ.  For  at  Alexandria, 
FROM  Mark  the  Evangelist  even  to  Heraclas 
and  Dionysius,  bishops,  the  presbyters  always 
named  as  bishop  one  chosen  from  themselves, 
and  placed  him  in  a  higher  grade." 

"  For  what  does  a  bishop,  ordination  excepted, 
which  a  presbyter  may  not  do  ? — Epis.  ad  Eva- 
grium. 

Once  more: 

"  It  is  the  custom  of  the  Church,  for  the  bishop 
to  go  and  invoke  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  imposition 
of  hands  on  such  as  were  baptized  by  presbyters 
and  deacons,  in  villages  and  places  remote  from 
the  mother  church.  Do  you  ask  where  this  is 
written?     In  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles." — Ide9n. 

From  these  passages  (and  others  of  a  like  kind 


TESTIMONY  OF  THE  FATHERS.  61 

might  be  produced,)  it  is  evident  that  Jerome 
maintained  not  only  that  Episcopacy  existed  in 
his  day,  but  also  that  it  was  an  apostolick  institu- 
tion. If  he  did  not,  he  meant  to  deceive,  and 
consequently  he  must  have  been  a  bad  man. 

Ambrose,  the  Bishop  of  Milan,  was  born  in  the 
year  333,  and  was  cotemporary  with  Jerome. 
He  was  a  man  not  only  of  great  eloquence,  but 
also  of  singular  piety.  In  his  Commentary  upon 
the  Epistle  to  Timothy,  when  speaking  of  his 
ordination  to  the  episcopate,  he  thus  writes : — 

"  Herein  he  shows  also  by  what  manner  a 
bishop  is  ordained;  for  neither  is  it  lawful  or 
permissible  that  an  inferior  should  ordain  a  supe- 
rior, since  no  one  can  bestow  that  which  he  has 
not  first  received." — Comm.  in  Epis.  ad  Tim. 

Hilary,  a  Roman  deacon,  who  in  the  year  353 
was  present  at  the  Synod  of  Aries,  and  to  whom 
several  works  are  ascribed,  thus  writes  in  his 
Commentary  on  Timothy: — 

"  The  bishop  is  chief;  though  every  bishop  is 
a  presbyter,  every  presbyter  is  not  a  bishop." — 
1  Tim.  iii. 

Again : 

*'  Timothy  and  Titus  were  angels,  (bishops)  as 
taught  in  the  Revelation  of  St.  John." — Comm.  I 
Cor.  xi.  10. 

Optatus,  Bishop  of  Mela,  in  Africa,  was  co- 
temporary  with  the  former;  he  writes: — 

"The  Church  has  her  several  members,  bishops, 
presbyters,  deacons,  and  the  company  of  the  faith- 
ful."— Contra  Parmen.  lib.  2. 

Cyprian  was  Bishop  of  Carthage ;  he  suffered 

6 


62  EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  THE 

martyrdom  under  the  Emperor  Valerian,  in  the 
year  258.  He  wrote,  amongst  many  other  works, 
one  entitled,  *'  On  the  Power  of  the  Presbytery 
when  the  Bishop  is  absent;"  and  another,  "  On 
the  Order  of  Bishops  and  Presbyters."  In  an- 
other of  his  works  he  writes  :  "  Our  Lord,  whose 
commands  we  ought  to  reverence  and  obey,  being 
about  to  constitute  the  Episcopal  honour  and  the 
frame  of  his  Church,  said  to  Peter,  '  Thou  art 
Peter,'  <fec.  From  thence  the  order  of  bishops 
and  constitution  of  the  Church  does  descend  by 
the  line  of  succession,  through  all  times  and  ages, 
that  the  Church  should  be  built  upon  the  bishops. 
It  is  established  by  the  divine  law,  that  every  act 
of  the  Church  should  be  governed  by  the  bishop." 
— Epist.  xxxiii.  de  Lapsis,  edit.  Oxon. 
Again : 

"  Christ  said  to  the  apostles,  and  by  that  to  all 
bishops,  or  governors  of  his  Church,  who  succeed 
the  apostles  by  vicarious  ordination,  and  are  in 
their  stead — '  He  that  hearcth  you,  heareth  me.' " 
— Epist.  Florentio,  Ixvi. 

It  would  extend  these  letters  far  too  widely  to 
quote  many  other  passages  from  this  Father; 
one  more  shall  suffice  : — 

"  What  danger  ought  we  to  fear  from  the  dis- 
pleasure of  God,  when  some  presbyters,  neither 
mindful  of  the  Gospel  nor  of  their  own  station  in 
the  Church — neither  regarding  the  future  judg- 
ment of  God,  nor  the  bishop  who  is  set  over  them, 
(which  was  never  done  unto  our  predecessors) — 
with  the  contempt  and  neglect  of  the  bishop,  do 
arrogate  all  rule  unto  themselves!" — Epist.  xvi. 
p.  36.     Presbyteris  et  Diaconitis. 

Origen,  of  Alexandria,  was  born  in  the  year  185 
or  189,  and  died  at  Tyre  about  the  year  252 :  he 


TESTIMONY  OF  THE  FATHERS.  63 

was  reckoned  to  be  a  prodigy  of  literature.  In  his 
Commentary  upon  Matthew,  lie  names  bishops, 
presbyters,  and  deacons  as  three  distinct  orders. 
"  Such  a  bishop,"  says  he,  speaking  of  one  who 
sought  after  vainglory,  "  doth  not  desire  a  good 
work :  and  the  same  is  to  be  said  of  presbyters 
and  deacons."  "  The  bishops  and  presbyters, 
who  hate  the  chief  place  among  the  people.  The 
bishop  is  called  Prince  in  the  churches."  Speak- 
in*?  of  the  irreligious  cler<rv,  he  addresses  them, 
"  Whether  bishops,  presbyters,  or  deacons." — 
Comm.  ill  Matt.  p.  255. 

Tertullian,  another  eminent  Father,  died  in 
the  year  220  ;  in  his  book  of  the  Prescriptions  of 
Hereticks  he  thus  writes  : — 

"  Let  them  produce  the  original  of  their  churches, 
let  them  show  the  order  of  their  bishops,  that  by 
their  succession  we  may  see  whether  their  first 
bishop  had  any  of  the  apostles,  or  apostolical  men 
who  did  likewise  persevere  with  the  apostles,  for 
his  founder  and  predecessor ;  for  thus  the  apos- 
tolical Churches  do  derive  their  succession :  as 
the  Church  of  Smyrna  from  Polycarp,  whom 
John  the  ajiostlc  placed  there;  the  Church  of 
Rome  from  Clement,  who  was  in  like  manner 
ordained  bv  Peter;  and  so  the  other  churches 
can  produce  those  constituted  in  their  bishopricks 
by  the  apostles." — Chap.  34. 

Irenaeus  was  Bishop  of  Lyons,  in  France.  He 
was  a  disciple  of  the  martyr  Polycarp,  who  was 
Bishop  of  Smyrna.  He  lived  about  the  year  167. 
He  is  highly  eulogized  by  Mosheim,  who  repre- 
sents some  of  his  works  as  beino:  amonffst  the 
most  precious  remains  of  ancient  erudition.  The 
following  are  extracts  from  the  works  so  de- 
scribed : — 


64  EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  THE 

"  We  can  reckon  those  bishops  who  have  been 
constituted  by  the  apostles  and  their  successors 
all  the  way  to  our  times;  and  if  the  apostles 
knew  hidden  mysteries,  they  would  have  certainly 
dehvered  them  to  those  chiefly  to  whom  they 
committed  the  churches  themselves,  and  whom 
they  left  in  the  same  places  of  government  as 
themselves.  We  have  the  succession  of  bishops 
to  whom  the  Apostolick  Church  in  every  place 
was  committed." — Aclver.  Hareticos,  lib.  iii.  c.  3. 

Again ; 

"  The  true  knowledge  is  the  doctrine  of  the 
apostles,  and  the  ancient  state  of  the  Church 
throughout  the  whole  world,  and  the  character 
of  the  body  of  Christ,  according  to  the  succession 
of  bishops,  to  whom  they  committed  the  Church 
that  is  in  every  place,  and  which  has  descended 
even  to  us." — Adver.  Hcereiicos,  lib.  iv.  c.  6. 

"  Polycarp,"  says  Pictet,  "  who  is  believed  to 
be  the  angel  of  the  Church  at  Smyrna,  mentioned 
Apoc.  c.  ii.  suffered  martyrdom  at  the  age  of  86; 
being,  according  to  Pearson,  the  year  N.  S.  147. 
He  wrote  several  letters,  as  we  learn  from  Ire- 
nseus.  There  are  some  which  have  been  pub- 
lished under  his  name,  and  which  have  been 
considered  to  be  supposititious;  but  there  is  one 
which  several  admit  as  genuine,  and  which  is 
addressed  to  the  Philippians." — (Euvres  Melees^ 
torn.  iii.  p.  5. 

In  this  epistle  Polycarp  writes — 

"  The  Epistles  of  Ignatius,  which  he  wrote 
unto  us,  together  with  what  others  of  his  have 
come  to  our  hands,  we  have  sent  to  you  accord- 
ing to  your  order,  which  are  subjoined  to  this 
epistle :  by  which  you  may  be  greatly  profited ; 
for  they  treat  of  faith  and  patience,  and  of  all 


TESTIMONY  OF  THE  FATHERS.  65 

things  that    pertain   to  edification  in  the  Lord 
Jesus." — Epist,  Phil.  %  9. 

Ignatius  was  Bishop  of  the  Church  at  Antioch, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  71,  He  suffered  martyr- 
dom in  the  year  107.  He  was  instituted  Bishop 
of  the  Church  at  Antioch  by  the  apostles,  and 
considered  himself,  and  all  other  Christian  "bi- 
shops, as  invested  with  their  authority,  and  as 
succeeding  them  in  their  office;"  as  will  appear 
from  his  letter. 

That  the  shorter  Epistles  ascribed  to  him,  and 
from  which  quotations  will  be  made,  were  the 
genuine  letters  of  this  Father,  is  evident  from — 

The  testimony  of  Polycarp,  as  before  cited. 

The  testimony  of  Irenoeus,  who  cites  from  Ig- 
natius, as  his  authority,  the  following  passage  : 
"  I  am  the  corn  of  God:  I  shall  be  ground  by  the 
teeth  of  beasts,  in  order  that  I  may  become  the 
bread  of  Jesus  Christ." — Adver.  Hcereticos,  lib.  v. 
c.  26. 

The  testimony  of  Origen,  who,  in  his  work 
upon  the  Canticles,  cites  him  quoting  this  as  his 
expression — "  My  Love  is  crucified." 

The  testimonies  of  Eusebius,  Jerome,  and 
others ;  but  these  are  needless,  as  I  may  quote — 

The  testimony  of  Lardner,  an  English  critick, 
who  certainly  was  a  low  Arian,  and  whom  the 
Arians  claim  as  one  of  their  party.  In  his  "  Cre- 
dibility of  the  Gospel  History,"  he  says — "  I  have 
carefully  compared  the  two  editions,  and  am 
very  well  satisfied,  upon  that  comparison,  that 
the  larger  are  an  interpolation  of  the  smaller, 
and  not  the  smaller  an  epitome  or  abridgment  of 
the  latter."  This  is  the  testimony  of  one  of  the 
greatest  scholars  and  acutest  criticks  of  his  day, 
a  man  whom  every  motive  would  have  induced 

6* 


66  EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  THE 

to  reject  them,  if  he  deemed  them  spurious,  but 
whom  honesty  would  not  allow  so  to  do. 

The  testimony  of  Dr.  Dwight,  who,  in  his 
System  of  Theology,  refers  to  them  in  support  of 
infant  baptism. 

The  testimony  of  Dr.  Miller,  yes,  of  that  very 
Dr.  Miller  who,  when  writing  against  the  Episco- 
palians, said,  "  that  the  shorter  Epistles  of  Ignatius 
are  unworthy  of  confidence  as  the  genuine  works  of 
the  Father  whose  name  they  hear,  is  the  ojnnion  of 
many  of  the  ablest  and  hest  judges  in  the  Frotestant 
world.^^  This  same  person,  "  Eheu,  quantum 
mutatus  ab  illo ! !"  in  writing  subsequently  against 
the  Unitarians,  and  wishing  to  urge  the  sentiments 
of  the  same  Father  against  them,  says  in  words 
as  follow:  "  The  great  body  of  learned  men  con- 
sider the  smaller  Epistles  of  Ignatius  as,  in  the 
main,  the  real  icorks  of  the  ivriter  whose  name  they 
hear.^^  Thus  his  real  opinion  has  been  wrung 
from  him,  if  indeed  such  an  opinion,  given  under 
such  circumstances,  be  of  any  importance  at  all. 

What  then  says  Ignatius? 

"  Be  subject  unto  your  bishop,  as  to  the  Lord, 
and  to  the  presbyters,  as  to  the  apostles  of  Christ ; 
likewise  the  deacons,  also  being  ministers  of  the 
mysteries  of  Christ,  ought  to  please  in  all  things. 
Without  these,  there  is  no  Church  of  the  elect: 
he  is  without,  who  does  any  thing  without  the 
bishop,  and  presbyters,  and  deacons,  and  such 
an  one  is  defiled  in  his  conscience." — Epis.  to  the 
Trallians. 

*'  You  ought  not  to  despise  the  bishop  for  his 
youth,  but  to  pay  him  all  manner  of  reverence, 
according  to  the  commandment  of  God  the  Father, 
and  as  I  know  your  holy  presbyters  do." — Epis, 
to  the  Magnesians. 

"  I  exhort  you  to  partake  of  the  one  eucharist ; 


TESTIMONY  OF  THE  FATHERS.  67 

for  there  is  one  body  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  one 
blood  of  his  which  was  shed  for  us,  and  one  cup, 
and  one  altar ;  so  there  is  one  bishop,  with  the 
presbytery  and  deacons,  my  fellow-servants." — 
Epis.  to  the  Philadelphians. 

These  are  only  a  few  quotations  from  a  large 
number  of  passages  of  like  import  in  these  Epis- 
tles, and  if  these  do  not  evince  that  he  believed 
in  a  triple  gradation  of  the  ministry,  and  that 
such  a  gradation  was  of  divine  appointment,  then 
language  cannot  pos^sibly  be  the  safe  medium  of 
conveying  the  ideas  of  one  man  to  the  mind  of 
another. 

Clement  was  Bishop  of  Rome.  He  also  suf- 
fered martyrdom.  He  is  mentioned  by  St.  Paul, 
Phil.  iv.  3  ;  and  Origen  says,  "  he  was  a  disciple 
of  St.  Peter." — Origen  de  Princip.  lib.  ii.  c.  3. 

*'  He  wrote,"  says  Pictet,  ((Eiivres  Melees,  torn, 
iii.  p.  2,)  "  an  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  on  occa- 
sion of  the  great  schism  which  had  taken  place 
in  that  Church  by  those  who,  having  received 
extraordinary  gifts,  rebelled  against  the  ordinary 
pastor,  to  exhort  them  to  i)cace,  and  to  remain 
firm  in  the  faith.  It  appears  that  ihe  Corinthian 
Church  had  sent  persons  to  the  Church  at  Rome, 
to  implore  their  assistance  in  this  unhappy  schism. 
— Phorius  in  Bib.  Cod.  11;  Hleron.  lih.de  Vir. 
Illus.  et  alibi;  Irenceus,  lib.  iii.  Adver.  Hcercticos, 
c.  3." 

"  This  letter  has  been  highly  esteemed,  and, 
according  to  Eusebius,  they  were  accustomed 
publickly  to  read  it. — Eiiseb.  lib.  v.  c.  16 — 38." 
Thus  far  Pictet. 

In  this  letter  we  find  him  saying — *'  To  the 
high  priest  his  proper  offices  were  appointed ; 
the  priests  had  their  proper  order,  and  the  Levites 


68  EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  THE 

their  peculiar  deaconship  [AtctKovix^^  and  the  lay- 
men what  was  proper  for  laymen." — Cle7n.  Epis. 
Cor,  §  40. 

Again : 

"  The  apostles  knew,  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
that  contests  would  arise  concerning  the  Episcopal 
name ;  and  for  this  cause,  having  thereof  perfect 
foreknowledge,  they  did  ordain  those  whom  we 
mentioned  before,  and  moreover  did  establish 
the  constitution,  that  other  approved  men  should 
succeed  those  who  died  in  their  office  and  minis- 
try."— Idem,  ^  44. 

Thu>s  have  the  testimonies  of  the  Fathers  been 
traced  up  to  the  very  first  persons  who  were 
ordained  in  the  Church  by  the  apostles  them- 
selves, and  their  evidence  is  altogether  in  support 
of  Episcopacy.  And  is  it  possible  that  such  men 
mistook  the  nature  and  constitution  of  the  Church  f 
Then  who  can  now  possibly  understand  it  ?  Then 
how  were  the  apostles  deceived  in  the  appointment 
of  such  men  to  the  ministry?  Then  (who  does 
not  shudder  at  the  thought  ?)  how  egregious  the 
error  of  the  Head  of  the  Church,  in  leaving  this 
matter  to  the  apostles  ;  and  how  inattentive  was 
he  to  the  interests  of  his  kingdom,  in  permitting, 
even  with  his  own  servants,  such  a  fundamental 
heresy,  at  so  early  a  period,  to  obtain  ! 

In  addition  to  these  testimonies,  there  is  one 
fact,  which,  if  duly  weighed,  must  evolve  demon- 
stration upon  every  unprejudiced  mind.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  Buchanan,  in  the  volume  published  by 
him,  in  which  he  gives  an  account  of  his  missionary 
travels,  informs  us,  that  in  the  very  bosom  of 
Asia  he  discovered,  to  his  surprise  and  delight,  a 
Syriack  Christian  Church,  of  whose  existence, 
till  then,  he  had  but  an  imperfect  knowledge; 
that  this  Church  was  Episcopal  in  its  government ; 


TESTIMONY  OF  THE  FATHERS.  69 

that  it  traced  up  its  bishops,  in  regular  succession, 
to  the  apostolick  age ;  that,  in  poverty  and  purity, 
it  had  maintained  its  faith  in  the  seckisions  of  the 
wilderness,  and  that  it  iiad  never  submitted,  in 
any  way,  to  the  heresies  of  Rome,  having  not 
even  heard  of  them  till  some  little  time  before, 
by  the  Jesuit  missionaries ;  in  fine,  that  its  dis- 
cipline was  orderly,  and  its  liturgy  scriptural. 
He  narrates  part  of  a  conversation  which  he  held 
with  one  of  their  bishops,  who  wished  to  know 
somethino:  of  the  other  Churches,  besides  that  of 
the  Church  of  England,  which  had  separated  from 
Rome. 

"  1  mentioned,"  says  Dr.  Buchanan,  "  that 
there  was  a  kasheesha,  or  presbyter  Church,  in 
our  own  kingdom,  in  which  every  kasheesha 
(presbyter)  was  equal  to  another.  *  And  are 
there  no  shumshanas  ?'  (deacons  in  holy  orders.) 
*  None.'  *  And  what,  is  there  nobody  to  overlook 
the  kasheeshas  ?'  '  Not  one.'  *  And  who  is  the 
angel  of  their  Churches  ?'  (alluding  to  the  form 
of  the  seven  Churches  in  Asia,  Apoc.  ii.)  *  They 
have  none.'  '  There  must  be  something  imper- 
fect there,'  said  he."* 

Thus,  then,  it  was  a  matter  of  surprise  to  him, 
that  a  Church  could  exist  without  a  bishop ;  he 
considered  it  as  wanting  marks  of  apostolicity. 
Such  a  fact  amounts  to  demonstration  of  the 
opinion  of  the  Fathers. 

When  an  argument  has  been  carried  to  a 
certain  point  of  proof,  all  addition  serves  only  to 

•  The  above  account  is  taken  from  an  English  copy  of  Dr- 
Buchanan's  Researches,  This  fact  is  here  mentioned,  because  the 
author  has  been  informed  lliat  there  was  published  in  this  country, 
some  years  since,  an  edition  of  the  work,  in  which  the  chapter  con- 
taining the  conversation  above  quoted  was  entirely  omitted.  The 
cause  of  this  omission  was  not  explained.  The  Baltimore  edition  is 
a  correct  reprint  of  the  English. 


70  EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED,  &€. 

diminish  its  importance;  it  is  like  an  attempt  to 
bestow  greater  effulgence  on  the  noon-day  sun. 
To  adduce,  then,  upon  this  point,  further  evidence, 
would  be  vain. 


LETTER   VI. 

EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE. 


Right  Rev.  and  dear  Sir, 

Perhaps  there  is  no  passage  of  any  writer  that 
has  been  more  frequently  quoted  of  late  years, 
and  that  meets  with  more  general  approbation, 
than  that  one  sentence  of  Chillingworth — "  the 
Bible,  the  Bible  alone  is  the  religion  of  Protest- 
ants ;"  since,  great  as  may  be  the  respect  due 
unto  the  Fathers,  and  important  as  is  their  testi- 
mony,  they  are  of  authority  far  inferior  to  the 
inspired  volume.    To  the  Scriptures  alone  should 
we  look,  as  the  true  touch-stone  of  all  religious 
sentiments ;   they  only  are  the  infallible  word, 
and  whatever  is  not  founded  upon  them  must  be 
rejected,   whilst  it  is  at  our  peril  to  refuse  what 
they  teach  or  enjoin.    He  who  will  not  bow  before 
them,  must  be  crushed  beneath  them.    The  great 
inquiry,  then,  with  every  serious  Christian,  will 
be,  What  says  the  word  of  God  ?     He  will  follow 
the  example  of  the  Bereans,  of  whom  it  is  re- 
corded to  their  honour,  that  "  they  searched  the 
Scriptures  daily,  tohether  those  things  were  5o." 
He  will  say  even  of  the  Fathers — "  To  the  law 
and  to  the  testimony,  if  they  speak  not  according  to 
them,  it  is  because  the  truth  is  not  in  them,^* 

Let  us  bring  then  Episcopacy  to  this  test ;  let 
us  weigh  it  in  the  balances  of  the  sanctuary  ;  let 


72  EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE. 

US  apply  this  touch-stone  both  to  Episcopacy  and 
Presbytery,  and  we  shall  easily  see  which  of  them 
is  the  result  of  divine  appointment. 

Every  person  who  examines  the  New  Testa- 
ment will  perceive,  that  from  amongst  the  number 
of  his  disciples,  many  of  whom  had  been  employed 
as  the  preachers  of  his  word,  our  blessed  Lord 
selected  twelve  persons,  on  \yhom  was  bestowed 
the  title  of  apostles,  whom  he  distinguished  by 
some  sort  of  pre-eminency  over  the  others,  invest- 
ing them  with  peculiar  powers,  and  committing 
to  them  the  affairs  of  his  Church.     To  them  he 
solemnly  and  expressly  confided,  as  the  master  to 
his  stewards,  "  the  keys  of  the  Church,"  or,  as  he 
emphatically  called  her,  "  the  reign  [kingdom]  of 
heaven ;"  whilst,  in  consequence  of  this  distinc- 
tion, the  Church  is  said  by  St.  Paul  to  be  "  huilt 
upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophet Sy 
Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner-stone  ;^^ 
and  St.  John,  in  his  Revelation,  says  of  the  New 
Jerusalem,  "  The  walls  of  the  city  had  twelve  foun- 
dations^ and  in  them  the  names  of  the  tivelve  apostles 
of  the  Lamhy^  referring  to  the  practice  of  archi' 
tects,  who,  in  laying  the  foundation-stone  of  some 
important  edifice,  were  accustomed  to  engrave 
their  names  thereon. 

That  the  apostles  were  an  order  of  ministers 
superior  to  all  their  brethren,  is  so  evident  from 
the  whole  tenour  of  the  Scriptures,  that  any 
attempt  to  prove  it  would  be  needless ;  it  is  uni- 
versally admitted ;  whilst  several  Presbyterian 
professors  of  theology,  and  amongst  others  Pictet, 
have  laid  down  the  following  as  requisite  condi- 
tions of  the  apostleship : — 

1st.  That  they  should  have  seen  a  risen  Saviour. 
2d.  That  they  should  have  been  immediatelj 
called  to  the  office  by  our  Lord  himself.    3d. 


EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE.  73 

That  they  should  understand  the  Gospel  by  im- 
mediate revelation.  4th.  That  they  should  be 
infallible  in  their  doctrine.  5th.  That  they  should 
have  the  power  of  working  miracles,  and  of  be- 
stowing the  Holy  Ghost  by  imposition  of  their 
hands.  6th.  That  they  should  have  the  power 
of  inflicting  bodily  plagues,  and  even  death,  upon 
those  who  opposed  their  ministry.  And,  7th. 
That  they  should  have  no  particular  residence, 
but  superintend  all  the  churches. — See  Pictet. 
Theol.  Chrcf.  tom.  iii.  p.  388. 

Besides  the  apostles,  Scripture  makes  mention 
of  other  orders  of  ministers,  who  in  their  days 
were  established  in  the  Church  of  Christ.  St. 
Paul,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  iv.  11, 
speaks  of  diff'erent  gradations.  He  tells  us  that 
our  "  Lord  gave  apostles,  pr&phets,  evangelists, 
pastors,  and  teachers,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry y 
In  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  xii.  6,  7,  8,  he  says, 
*'  Having  gifts  differing  according  to  the  grace 
that  is  given  tons,  whether projjhecy ,  let ns prophesy 
according  to  the  j)roportion  of  faith  ;  or  ministry, 
let  US  icait  on  our  ministering :  or  he  that  teacheth, 
on  teaching:  or  he  that  exhorteth,  on  exhortation: 
he  that  giveth,  let  him  do  it  ivith  simjjlicity :  he  that 
ruleth,  with  diligence:  he  that  showeth  mercy,  with 
cheerfulness.^^ 

There  were  then  different  grades  of  rank,  and 
diflferent  charges  sustained  in  the  Church.  Nor 
would  it  be  diflicult,  were  this  the  proper  place 
for  it,  to  define  the  precise  nature  of  these  charges, 
and  to  support  such  definitions  by  solid  evidence. 
Over  all  these  diflferent  ministers  the  apostles 
were  invested  with  authority  to  rule.  As  they 
received  their  office  immediately  from  Christ, 
they  were  clothed  by  him  with  singular  honour, 
and  were  regarded  by  their  fellow  Christians  with 

7 


74  EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE. 

profound  reverence.  As  they  were  inspired  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  so  their  decrees  and  doctrines 
were  infalUble,  issued  forth  with  authority,  and 
not  to  be  resisted.  Acts  xv.  28  ;  xvi.  4.  As  they 
alone  had  the  power  of  giving,  by  imposition  of 
hands,  the  Holy  Ghost,  so  were  they  greater  than 
the  prophets,  than  even  Moses  himself;  Moses 
had  not  this  power.  See  Numb.  xi.  17.  Elijah 
had  it  not.  2  Kings  ii.  9.  John  [the  Baptist] 
had  it  not.  Matt.  iii.  11.  The  evangelists,  as 
such,  had  it  not.  See  Acts  xix.  1 — 6.  As,  in 
fine,  upon  them  was  the  care  of  all  the  churches, 
so  to  their  direction  and  government  all  were 
submissive ;  they  exalted  and  degraded  persons 
therein ;  thev  alone  held  the  rod  of  disciohne. 

Such  was  their  importance,  that  Pictet  tells  us, 
"  The  twelve  apostles  are  called,  by  the  Fathers, 
the  twelve  patriarchs  of  the  new  people,  the  twelve 
fountains  of  Elim,  which  furnished  water  to  the 
second  Israel  of  God,  the  twelve  foundations  of 
the  New  Jerusalem,  the  twelve  stars  of  the 
Church's  crown,  the  twelve  angels  who  stand  at 
the  gates  of  the  holy  city." — Pictet.  Theol.  Chret. 
tom.  ii.  p.  388. 

In  his  exposition  upon  Ephesians  iii.  2,  the 
learned  Du  Bosc  thus  speaks : — 

*'  In  fact,  it  was  an  incomparable  grace,  the 
highest  and  most  eminent  of  all  graces,  (the 
apostleship,)  since  it  raised  a  man  to  the  highest 
degree  of  perfection,  of  dignity,  and  of  power  to 
which  a  man  could  ascend  in  this  life ;  for  what 
was  an  apostle  but  a  living  and  speaking  image 
of  Jesus  Christ  upon  earth — an  universal  pastor, 
clothed  with  all  the  authority  of  the  great  and 
supreme  Pastor  of  souls?  according  to  this  ex- 
press language  which  he  addressed  to  his  twelve 
first  disciples,  '  As  my  Father  hath  sent  me^  even  so 


EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE.  75 

send  I  you,''  John  xx.  21 ;  and,  '  /  dispone  unto 
you  a  kingdom.,  as  my  Father  hath  disponed  it  unto 
me,''*  Luke  xxii.  29 — comparing  their  authority 
to  his  own ;  so  that  an  apostle  was  a  second  Jesus 
Christ  in  the  world.  '  If  then  the  Lord  is  called 
the  brightness  of  his  Father'' s  glory,  and  the  express 
image  of  his  person,''  we  may  say,  in  an  honest 
sense,  the  gradations  and  proportions  being  ob- 
served, that  the  apostles  w^ere  the  brightness  of 
the  glory  of  the  Son,  and  the  sensible  and  animate 
image  (caractere  sensible  et  animee,)  of  his  blessed 
person.  What  grace  then!  what  inexpressible 
grace,  to  a  mortal  and  sinful  man,  '  to  be  elevated 
to  the  apostleship!'  " — (Euvrcs  de  Du  Bosc,  torn, 
vii.  p.  340,  341. 

"  The  apostles  were  ecumenical  pastors,  each 
one  of  whom  regarded  the  world  as  his  parish  and 
his  diocese." — Idem,  p.  346. 

In  perfect  accordance  with  these  representa- 
tions, the  apostles  exercised  a  power  very  different 
from  that  of  the  ordinary  pastors ;  they  were  the 
source  of  authority,  as  the  texts  already  quoted 
evince.  "  They  confirmed,"  as  appears.  Acts  xix. 
6;  "  they  alone  ordained,"  2  Tim.  i.  6;  "  none 
others  having  the  power  to  confer  the  Holy 
Ghost:"  in  fine,  "  they  held  the  rod  of  universal 
discipline,"  Acts  v.  9,  10;  xiii.  11;  1  Cor.  v.  4, 
5;  1  Tim.  i.  20. 

Thus  then,  when  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  set  up 
his  Church,  he  instituted  different  grades  of  the 
ministry,  over  which  he  appointed  the  apostles  as 
universal  bishops'.  Now,  then,  does  Scripture 
ever  tell  us  of  any  alteration  having  taken  place, 

*  Tt  is  proper  here  to  remark,  that  in  the  common  translation  of 
the  Eniilish  Bible,  the  langvmiie  is,  "  1  girt  unto  you,"  &c.  I  have 
here  followed  the  literal  rendering  of  the  French  version;  and  would 
add,  that  it  is  conformable  also  tu  the  Scotch  rendering. 


76  EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCPvIPTUPvE. 

or   as   having   been   designed    in   this   mode  of 
Church  government?     If  our  Lord  had  not  re- 
garded it  as  the  best  constitution  for  his  Church, 
why  estabHsh,  at  the  very  outset,  different  orders? 
and  why  raise  these  twelve  apostles  to  a  station 
superior  to  the  seventy  preaching  disciples,  when 
he  could  have  as  easily  inspired  and  invested  with 
similar  pov>^ers  not  only  the  seventy,  but  also  the 
five  hundred  brethren  by  whom  he  was  seen  at  once; 
and  thus,  without  needless  difficulties,  have  every 
where  founded   Presbyterial  or   Congregational 
churches,  if  such  were  the  forms  he  approved? 
Why  was  this  difference  in  rank  made,  unless  for 
the  very  purpose  of  settling  a  ministry  consisting 
of  different  orders  and  degrees?  or  if  this  were 
not  his  intention,  why  has  not  he,  or  why  have  not 
his  apostles  told  us  that  such  a  mode  of  Church 
gOVCi'nment  was  only  provisional  and  temporary  ? 
And  vvdiy  did  they  not  lay  down  rules  for  a  better  ? 
Besides,  cur  blessed  Lord  well  knew  that,  finding 
such  a  government  in  his  Church,  and  seeing  its 
accordance  with  the  divinely  instituted  priesthood 
of  tlic  temple,  men  would  necessarily  consider  the 
one  as  the  substitute  of  the  other,  unless  some  ex- 
press provision  or  direction  were  made  to  unde- 
ceive them.     Yet,  instead  of  any  such  thing  being 
done,  every  thing  in  the  New  Testament  tends  to 
help  on  the  delusion  in  favour  of  Episcopacy,  if 
indeed  a  delusion  it  be. 

Most  readily  is  it  admitted,  that  the  apostles 
were  invested  with  extraordinary  endowments, 
such  as  inspiration,  ability  to  work  miracles,  and 
infallibility  in  doctrine,  to  which  none  can  now 
lay  any  claim.  But  the  two  former,  inspiration 
and  the  power  of  working  miracles,  were  con- 
tinued even  for  some  time  after  the  apostles'  days, 
till  the   establishment  of  Christianity  rendered 


EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE.  77 

them  no  longer  necessary;  whilst  the  apostles 
having  concluded  and  consummated  the  canon  of 
Scripture,  infallibility  became  unnecessary  also. 
But  was  the  government  of  the  Church  unneces- 
sary?  Surely,  if,  in  the  days  when  on  many 
churches  extraordinary  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
were  poured  out — if  in  those  days  it  was  requisite 
that  a  superior  order  of  persons  should  exist,  in 
whose  hands  authority  should  be  placed  for  the 
government  of  such  churches,  such  an  authority 
and  government  would  be  far  more  requisite  in 
subsequent  periods;  and  it  was  natural  either 
that  the  apostles  should  consider  their  own  ex- 
ample as  the  rule  which  their  successors  in  the 
ministry  should  follow,  or  that  they  should  ad- 
monish them  that  their  government  was  intended 
only  for  a  season,  and  that,  after  their  departure, 
another  order  of  things  must  take  place. 

Now,  the  latter  they  have  no  where  done;  no 
where  have  they  even  intimated  that  a  parity  was 
to  obtain.  It  is  a  received  maxim,  that  where  no 
precept  to  the  contrary  exists,  the  conduct  of  in- 
spired men,  who  were  exemplars  of  piety,  stands 
in  the  place  of  precept ;  what  then  could  be  more 
natural  than  that  their  conduct  in  the  government 
of  the  Church  should  be  imitated  by  their  suc- 
cessors? But  upon  this  point  we  have  positive 
command — '*  Be  ye  followers  of  me,'' ^  says  St.  Paul, 
*'  as  I  am  of  Christ.''''  "  Keep  the  ordinances,  as  I 
delivered  thcvi iinio you.''''  1  Cor.  xi.  ],  2.  "  But 
thou,''''  says  he  to  Timothy,  "  hast  fully  hwini  my 
doctrine,  manner  of  life,  purpose,^^  S^c.  "  Continue 
thou  in  the  thinp^s  which  thou  hast  learned,  and  hast 
been  assured  of,  knoicing  of  whom  thou  hast  learned 
them:'  2  Tim.  iii.  10,  14.  "  The  things  that  thou 
hast  heard  of  me  among  many  iciinesses,  the  same 

7* 


78  EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE. 

commit  thou  to  faithful  merij  who  shall  be  able  to 
t£ach  others  also.^^     2  Tim.  ii.  2. 

Moses  was  an  extraordinary  personage — no 
other  was  like  him  in  all  the  Jewish  dispensation ; 
but  when  he  was  about  to  depart  this  life,  he 
invested  another,  though  far  his  inferior,  with  the 
office  he  held.  Aaron  being  about  to  die,  was 
stripped  of  his  garments  in  Mount  Hor,  and  Ele- 
azar  his  son  was  invested  with  them  in  his  stead. 
So  in  like  manner  the  apostles  provided  for  the 
Church  against  the  time  of  their  departure,  by 
investing  with  their  offices  persons  who  were 
indeed  inferior  to  themselves,  but  who  succeeded 
them  in  those  functions  which  were  necessary  for 
the  Church.  That  Timothy  and  Titus  were  thus 
appointed  in  the  place  of  the  apostle  St.  Paul,  and 
that  they  were  invested  with  a  superiority  over 
others,  Scripture  abundantly  shows. 

Here  it  may  be  observed,  that  it  is  not  for  the 
term  Bishop  that  the  contest  is  so  much  main- 
tained, as  for  the  office  to  which  that  term  is 
apphed;  not  so  much  for  the  name,  as  for  the 
thing  which  it  signifies.  It  is  admitted  that  the 
titles  of  bishop,  presbyter,  and  elder  were,  in 
Scripture,  different  titles  of  the  same  person. 
"  They  wero  called,"  says  Pictet,  "  bishops,  be- 
cause they  had  the  oversight  of  the  flock;  elders 
or  presbyters,  either  because  of  their  age,  or  their 
gravity,  or  their  dignity."  "  They  were  called 
pastors,"  says  he,  "  because  they  fed  the  flock  of 
Christ  the  Lord." — Theo.  Chret.  tom.  ii.  p.  396. 
But  the  question  is,  whether  all  these  were  upon 
a  parity;  none  disputes  their  subjection  to  the 
apostles.  Were  there  any  that  succeeded  the 
apostles  in  their  office  of  government?  Who 
were  overseers  of  the  ordinary  pastors  or  presby- 


EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE.  79 

ters  ?  Who  exercised  the  distinct  and  peculiar 
office  of  those  designated  bishops  ?  And  to  whom, 
in  consequence,  by  way  of  distinction,  the  term 
Bishop,  as  having  the  oversight  of  others,  was 
given?  This,  then,  is  the  question  to  which  we 
must  seek  a  scriptural  solution. 

Now  upon  this  point  the  Scriptures  are  so  plain, 
that  '*  he  who  runs  may  readf  and  in  them  we  find 
St.  Paul  committing  to  Timothy  and  Titus  the  very 
same  Episcopal  powers  with  which  he  himself  was 
invested,  and  in  consequence  these  two  bishops 
exercising  them.     Upon  this  point  the  late  Dr. 
Mason  says, — "  that  Timothy  and  Titus  were  su- 
perior to  presbyters.     Who  denies  it?     What! 
do  you  allow  that  they  severally  had  the  power  of 
ordaining  to  the  ministry  by  their  sole  authority  ? 
Yes,  we  do.     That  they  had  authority  to  inquire 
into  the  doctrines  taught  by  the  presbyters  ?   Yes. 
To  coerce  the  unruly  ?    Yes.     To  expel  the  here- 
tical?    Yes — we  never  thought  of  disputing  it. 
Timothy   and   Tittis   could   do   all  these   things 
without  being  diocesan  bishops ;  an  apostle  could 
do  them  in  virtue  of  his  apostolick  office;  and 
evangelist,  as  Timothy,  and  consequently  Titus, 
undoubtedly  was,  could  do  them  in  consequence 
of  his  office  as  an  evangelist,  and  yet  be  very  un- 
like a  diocesan  bishop."     Thus  far  Dr.  Mason. 

He  admits  that  the  same  powers,  powers  which 
were  superior  to  those  of  the  presbyters,  and  si- 
milar to  those  of  the  apostles,  were  vested  in 
Timothy  and  Titus;  but  then  he  attributes  this 
to  their  office  as  evangelists.  But  already  it  has 
been  shown  that  this  power  did  not  belong  to  mere 
evangelists.  What  then  was  this  office?  The 
term  signifies,  as  Dr.  Campbell  has  shown,  (Prel. 
Diss,  p.  203,)  "  the  first  preacher  of  glad  tidings 
unto  a  particular  people."     "  It  signifies,"  says 


80  EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE. 

Jean  Daille,  (already  quoted,)  "  every  man  who 
evangelizes,  that  is  to  say,  who  announces  or 
preaches  the  Gospel,  of  whatever  order  he  may 
be."  This  definition  is  generally  admitted,  and 
is  therefore  applied  by  Congregationalists  to  the 
missionary  who,  in  any  neiv  place,  first  preaches 
the  Gospel.  But  Timothy,  in  this  respect,  to 
whomsoever  else  he  might  have  been  an  evan- 
gelist, was  not  so  to  the  Ephesians,  as  any  reader 
of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  will  easily  perceive ; 
nor  as  an  evangelist  merely,  but  as  a  bishop,  or 
overseer  of  the  flock — "  who,  when,"  to  use  the 
words  of  Grotius,  they  resided  "  in  one  place, 
beholding  a  plentiful  harvest,  they  believed  it 
should  be  cherished  by  their  presence,  presided 
in  the  presbytery,  they  performed  the  office  of 
bishops") — as  a  bishop  at  Ephesus  had  he  the 
powers  now  contended  for. 

Dr.  Mason  was  utterly  vv  rong  in  supposing  that, 
as  an  evangelist,  he  had  these  powers.  Philip 
was  an  evangelist,  but,  as  such,  he  could  not  con- 
fer the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  or  confirm.  Acts 
viii.  5,  6,  7.  ApoUos  is  enumerated  by  Jean 
Daille  amongst  the  evangelists.  "  Such,"  says 
he,  ^'  were  Timothy,  Crescens,  Titus,  Apollos, 
and  many  others,  of  whom  the  apostle  makes 
mention  here  and  there  in  his  Epistles."  Semi. 
XXX.  sur.  2  Tim.  But  if  Apollos  could  have  con- 
firmed believers,  why  did  he  wait  for  St.  Paul  to 
do  it?  Acts  xix.  6.  Surely,  then,  as  an  evange- 
list, he  had  not  this  power ;  no  more  had  Timothy, 
as  such;  it  was  only  when  constituted  a  diocesan, 
as  the  successor  whom  Paul  had  ordained  to  this 
office,  that  Timothy  or  Titus  possessed  the  powers 
already  referred  to. 

We  have,  then,  from  the  Scriptures,  an  account 
of  the  immediate  successors  of  the  apostles  exer- 


EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE.  81 

cising,  like  them,  authority  in  the  Church,  and,  as 
the  representatives  of  the  apostles,  maintaining  a 
supreme  government;  and  as  here  the  canon  of 
Scripture  terminates,  and  no  account  of  subse- 
quent events  is  given  us  in  Scripture,  we  have 
irrefragable  evidence  that  this  was  the  govern- 
ment instituted  by  the  apostles.  At  this  very 
point  the  Fathers  take  up  the  thread  of  history, 
and  they  afford  to  the  fact  confirmation. 

That  persons  invested  with  such  office  as  Ti- 
mothy and  Titus  had  alone  the  power  of  ordain- 
ing, and  that  the  presbyters  had  not,  is  equally 
plain  from  Scripture.  St.  Paul  enjoins  upon  Ti- 
mothy and  Titus  "  to  ordain  elders  in  every  city  f 
but  why  should  they  be  charged  to  ordain,  if  the 
presbyters  already  in  those  cities  had  power  so  to 
do?  Paul  enjoins  Timothy  to  "  lay  hands  sud- 
denly on  no  man^^^  words  which  imply  his  exclu- 
sive right  to  ordain.  He  invests  him,  as  is  evident 
from  his  Epistle,  with  authority  to  order  the  mode 
of  the  divine  service,  the  rules  of  Christian  disci- 
pline, the  correction  of  heresies,  the  excommuni- 
cation of  the  disorderly — with  the  keys  of  the 
Church;  he  charges  him  in  his  turn  to  commit 
them  to  faithful  men;  and  in  conclusion,  he  so- 
lemnly thus  addresses  him: — "  I gire  thee  charge 
in  the  sight  of  God,  loho  quickenetli  all  things,  and 
before  Christ  Jesus,  who  before  Pontius  Pilate  icit- 
nesscd  a  good  confession,  that  thou  keep  this  com- 
mandment without  spot,  itnrebukable,  until  the  ap- 
pearing of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ:^''  so  that  this 
charge  extended  until  the  second  advent  of  the  Sa- 
viour, and  must  therefore  relate  to  his  successors 
as  well  as  to  himself.  The  man  who  can  see  in 
this  any  sanction  for  Presbyterian  parity,  must 
have  a  mind  so  peculiarly  constituted  as  to  be 
able  to  reconcile  any  difficulties  whatever. 


82  EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE. 

The  following  facts,  then,  appear  from  the  re- 
cord of  sacred  Scripture: — 1.  That  there  were 
already  many  elders,  presbyters,  or  pastors  in 
the  Church  at  Ephesus,  when  Timothy  was,  by 
the  Apostle  St.  Paul,  appointed  to  be  their  super- 
intendent. Acts  XX.  17:  ''''  And  from  Miletus  he 
sent  to  Ephesus,  and  called  the  elders  of  the  Church^ 
— 2.  That  in  his  charge  to  them,  St.  Paul  ad- 
monished them  "  to  take  heed  to  themselves  f  "  to 
take  heed  to  all  the  flock  over  tvhich  the  Holy  Ghost 
had  made  them,  overseers  f  "  to  feed  the  Church  of 
Godf  and  to  "  watch''''  against  the  men  who 
should  "  arise,  speaking  perverse  things.''''  This 
was  the  sum  of  the  charge  addressed  to  them  by 
the  apostle ;  not  a  word  did  he  utter  to  them  which 
would  give  the  most  distant  idea  of  their  having 
any  right  to  ordain,  or  to  bear  the  rod  of  discipline. 
— 3.  That  over  these  elders  a  pre-eminency  was 
assigned  to  Timothy.  He  was  to  govern  them  : 
*'  Observe  these  things,  without  preferring  one  be- 
fore another.^''  He  was  to  sit  as  judge  over  them 
in  all  matters  of  difference  :  "  Against  an  elder 
receive  not  an  accusation  but  before  ttro  or  three 
witnesses.^^  He  was  to  hold  and  exercise  the  rod 
of  discipline:  "  Them  that  sin,  rebuke  before  alV 
He  was  to  be  judge  of  the  qualifications  of  the 
candidates  for  the  ministry:  "  Lay  hands  sud- 
denly on  no  man.''''  He  was  to  ordain  to  the  office 
of  the  ministry :  "  The  things  which  thou  hast  heard 
'  of  me,  commit  thou  to  faithf id  men.''^ — 4.  That  this 
pre-eminence  in  the  Ephesian  Church,  and  super- 
intendence of  its  government,  was  vested  solely 
and  j^^'^'soiiaUy  in  Timothy :  not  u  syllable  is  said, 
not  a  hint  the  most  distant  given,  of  his  having 
any  colleagues  or  associates  in  this  office  of  go- 
vernment ;  the  personal  pronoun  thou,  or  thee,  is 
invariably  used — "  I  charge  thee" — ''  that  thou 


EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE.  63 

observe  these  things^'' — "  that  thou  may  est  know  hoxo 
THOU  oughtest  to  behave  thyself  in  the  house  of 
Godj^''  <fec. — 5.  That  Timothy  was  a  young  man, 
far  younger  than  many  of  those  who  were  the 
elders  (presbyter  bishops)  in  the  Church  of 
Ephesus:  "  Let  no  man  despise  thy  youths 

Now,  with  these  facts  before  us,  can  we  possibly 
conceive  of  any  thing  like  parity  being  the  prim- 
itive  order  of  Church  government?     It  is   ad- 
mitted on  every  side,  that  St.  Paul  was  a  wise 
man ;  but  if  any  thing  like  Presbyterian  parity 
was  the  order  of  his  day,  nothing  can  be  con- 
ceived more  unwise  than  this  very  charge  of  the 
apostle,  nothing  more  calculated  to  awaken  the 
jealousy  of  the  presbyters  of  the  E[)hesian  Church. 
It  was,  in  fact,  to  throw  down  the  apple  of  discord 
into  the  midst  of  them.     To  give  a  young  man  so 
much  authority — to  delegate  to  him  a  supremacy 
over  his  seniors — to  make  him  the  definitive  judge 
in  all  their  controversies — to  appoint  him  alone 
to  rebuke,  ordain,  to  charge  and  watch  over  the 
other  clergy — not  to  mention  them  in  any  way  as 
associated  with  him— could  any  thing,  upon  the 
principle  of  parity,  be  more  unwise,  unjust,  or 
dangerous,  both  to  the  interests  of  the  Church  or 
the  humility  of  Timothy?     But,  upon  the  princi- 
ples of  Episcopacy,  all  is  wise  and  consistent ;  nor 
can  any  other  interpretation  be  given  than  the 
Episcopal,  of  this  point,  which  will  not  reflect  upon 
the  wisdom  and  consistency  of  St.  Paul. 

In  like  manner,  the  powers  given  to  Titus  at 
Crete,  distinguish  him  from  all  the  presbyters  of 
that  Church;  which  can  alone  be  understood  by 
his  investiture  with  the  episcopate,  or  the  apos- 
tolick  succession. 

Hence  it  is  that  Timothy  is  in  sacred  Scripture 
entitled  an  apostle,  and  by  St,  Paul  himself.  So© 


84  EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE. 

1  Thess.  i.  1:  "  Paul,  and  Silvaniis,  and  Timo- 
theus,  unto  the  Church  of  the  Thessalonians  ;^'  and 
ii.  6:  "  Nor  of  men  sought  we  glory,  neither  of  you, 
nor  yet  of  others,  ivhen  we  might  have  been  burden- 
some  as  apostles  of  Christ.^^  In  this  passage 
both  Silvanus  and  Timothy  are  distinguished  by 
the  same  title  as  St.  Paul  himself. 

Whilst,  then,  it  was  necessary  that  the  first 
twelve  apostles  should  be  chosen  to  that  office 
and  invested  therewith  by  the  Lord  himself,  yet 
their  successors  (and  successors  they  had)  were 
to  be  appointed  by  the  apostles,  as  to  their  wis- 
dom might  seem  most  fitting ;  hence  the  very  first 
act  almost  of  the  apostolick  college  was  the  in- 
vestiture of  Matthias  with  that  office — "  and  he 
was  numbered  with  the  apostles.'^''     St.  James,  the 
Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  was  not  of  the  twelve,  yet 
St.  Paul  calls  him  an  apostle,  Gal.  i.  19:  "  But 
other  of  the  apostles  saw  I  none,  save  James,  the 
Lord^s  brother.'^''     In  like  manner,  Barnabas,  Sil- 
vanus, Junius,    and  Androoicus,    Epaphroditus, 
Titus,  and  others,  have  tliese  appellations  also 
bestowed  upon  them  in  the  sacred  Scriptures, 
although  they  were  not  of  the  twelve ;  and  that 
they  were  invested  by  the  other  apostles  with  this 
office  is  a  clear  induction  from  the  language  of 
St.  Paul,  who,  speaking  of  himself,  in  opposition 
to  them,  as  being  invested  with  the  office  by  our 
Lord  in  person,  says.  Gal.  i.  1 :  "  Paid,  an  apostle^ 
(not  of  men,  neither  by  man,  but  by  Jesus  Christ, 
and  God  the  Father, f^.     Thus,  then,  the  apostles 
ordained  others  into  their  ministry ;  and  very  re- 
markable is  the  language  of  Cruden,  a  Presby- 
terian, in  his  Concordance  :*  "  Apostleship,"  he 
says,  '^  signifies  the  office  of  the  apostles,  which 

*  Edinburgh  Quarto  edition,  1804. 


EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE.  86 

was  to  preach  the  Gospel,  baptize,  work  miracles, 
plant  and  confirm  the  churches,  and  ordain  minis- 
ters. See  Matt,  xxviii.  19;  x.  1;  Acts  xiv.  23; 
1  Cor.  iii.  6." 

Further,  we  no  where  find  in  Scriptur  ^  the 
presbyters  possessing  any  power  to  ordain,  nay, 
the  Scriptures  imply  the  very  reverse.  There 
are  indeed  two  cases  stated  in  opposition  to  this, 
each  of  which  seems  plausible,  but  each  of  which, 
when  examined,  proves  not  to  bear  upon  the 
point. 

The  first  of  these  is  the  ordination,  as  it  has 
been  termed,  of  Timothy.     St.  Paul  says  unto 
him,  "  Neglect  not  the  gift  that  is  in  thee,  ivhich  was 
given  thee  by  prophecy,  icith  the  laying  on  of  the 
hands  of  the  presbytery.''''     Now,  not  to  say  any 
thing  of  the   construction  of  which  these  words 
are  capable,  and  which,  as  before  shown,  Calvin 
gives  to  the  word  translated  '•^presbytery,''''  refer- 
ring to  the  OFFICE  to  which  Timothy  was  desig- 
nated, and  not  to  the  persons  by  whom  he  was  so 
designated,  St.  Paul  himself  sets  the  matter  at 
rest  in  his  second  Epistle,  by  saying  it  was  "  by 
the  laying  on  of  my  hands.^''    Jean  Daill^,  already 
quoted,  says  of  this  designation,   that  what  the 
presbyters  did,  they  did  '^by  their  voice  and  their 
consent  f  but  that  "  Paul  did  it  as  their  chief  and 
their  principcd,  by  his  prayer  and  his  benediction, 
and  by  the  laying  on  oi  his  hands.''''     But  if  even 
the  presbyters  aided,  why  may  not  the  presbytery 
be  interpreted  of  the   apostolick  presbyters  or 
elders,  with  St.  Paul  at  their  head  ?   At  all  events, 
it  is  allowed  by  the  best  writers  on  the  side  of 
presbytery,  that  the  hands  of  St.  Paul  only  were 
imposed  :  besides,  they  admit  that  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  was  peculiar  to  the  apostles ;  and  by 
the  imposition  of  the  apostle  this  was  now  con- 

8 


86  EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTUHE. 

ferred.  It  necessarily  follows,  that  by  St.  Paul 
alone  was  he  ordained,  and  no  argument  can  be 
derived  thence  for  Presbyterian  ordination. 

The  second  case  referred  to,  is  that  which  is 
mentioned  in  Acts  xii.  2.     But  will  any  one  con- 
tend that  this  was  the  ordination  of  Paul  and 
Barnabas  to  the  apostleship  ?     Was  it  not  neces- 
sary, according  to  Pictet  and  others,   that  the 
apostles   should  derive  their  office   immediately 
from  the  Saviour  ?    Does  not  St.  Paul  repeatedly 
assert  that  he  was  not  indebted  to  any  man  for 
his  office  ?     For  instance,  in  his  Epistle  to  the 
Galatians,   he  says,  "  Paul,  an  apostle,   (not  of 
men,  neither  hy  man,  hut  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  God 
the  Father,  who  raised  him,  from  the  dead.f     The 
ease  referred  to  was  not  then  his  ordination  to 
the  apostleship,  but  the  designation  of  him  and 
Barnabas  to  a   special  mission ;    of  which   it  is 
afterward  recorded  that  "  they  finished  their  mi- 
nistryy 

Presbyterial  ordination,  then,  has  no  sanction  in 
Scripture  ;  and  the  testimony  of  the  first  Fathers 
evince  that  it  was  unknown  to  them.  Further, 
if  the  primitive  Church  government  was  Presby- 
terial, (which  was  not  the  case,)  it  must  have 
differed  from  that  which  now  passes  under  the 
name  of  it ;  the  Presbyterians  having  foisted  a 
new  office  into  the  Church  of  Christ,  which  thev 
call  "  lay,"  or  "  ruling  elders."  Now,  these  men 
they  ordain,  but,  most  anomalously,  they  never 
allow  them  to  ordain  others,  or  to  impose  their 
hands  upon  the  ministry  in  ordination.  Not  only 
do  Episcopalians  contend  that  Scripture  exhibits 
no  warrant  for  such  a  class  of  officers,  but  by  far 
the  largest  number  of  Presbyterians  allow  the 
same.  To  mention  the  names  of  such  persons  is 
needless,  as,  in  some  other  works  upon  the  sub- 


EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE.  87 

ject,  this  has  been  already  done.  But  even  Pictet, 
their  favourite  theologian,  says,  "  The  institution 
of  them  is  not  found  in  Scripture,  as  that  of 
deacons  :  for  when  elders  are  spoken  of  in  Scrip- 
ture, it  is  clear  we  must  understand  the  word  of 
pastors.  It  is  true,  that,  in  the  fifth  chapter  of 
the  first  of  Timothy,  it  seems  as  if  elders  were 
spoken  of  who  did  not  labour  in  the  preaching  of 
the  word :  '  Let  the  elders  that  rule  leell,  be  counted 
icorthy  of  double  honour^  especially  those  ivho  labour 
in  word  and  doctrine.''  But  when  we  carefully 
examine  this  passage,  we  find  that  it  is  o^ pastors 
the  word  is  used  ;  for  it  is  spoken  of  elders  who 
preside ;  since  the  Greek  word  marks  a  presidency 
which  belongs  only  to  pastors,  whom  the  Fathers 
often  designate  by  this  name.  But  it  appears  by 
this  passage,  that  when  there  were  many  pastors 
in  a  church,  and  that  some  were  more  proper  for 
preaching  than  others,  there  were  given  to  them 
difilerent  employments.  If  there  be  any  passage 
in  which  it  might  be  supposed  that  mention  was 
made  of  these  elders,  (lay-elders,)  it  is  in  the 
twelfth  of  the  first  of  Corinthians,  twenty-eighth 
verse,  where  he  speaks  of  governments  ;  but  we 
must  confess  that  nothing  can  be  decided  there- 
from."— Thcol.  Chret.  tom.  ii.  p.  421. 

Such  is  the  honest  avowal  of  this  great  Geneva 
professor,  in  which  the  largest  number  by  far  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  agree  with  him.  If, 
then,  there  were  no  lay-elders  in  the  Church,  the 
apostle  must  refer  to  those  presbyters  who  were 
pre-eminently  industrious  in  their  office;  not  only 
engaged  in  governing  the  Church,  but,  at  the 
same  time,  in  ])ublickly  preaching  the  word. 
This  is  certainly  the  true  interpretation  of  the 
passage,  and  is  perfectly  analogous  with  other 
parts  of  Scripture. 


88  EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE. 

One  more  text  is  cited  in  support  of  ruling  lay- 
elders  ;  it  is  Romans  xiii.  8.  "  He  that  ruldh  with 
diligence,''^  That  this  text  does  not  refer  to  lay- 
elders,  will  appear  by  the  following  quotation 
from  Beausobre  :  "It  may  be  supposed  that  here 
he  speaks  of  the  bishop,  or  of  the  presbyters;  and 
some  interpreters  think  so.  The  apostle  says,  in 
the  fifth  chapter  of  the  first  Epistle  to  the  Thes- 
salonians,  twelfth  and  thirteenth  verses :  '  And 
we  beseech  you,  brethren,  to  know  them  ivhich  labour 
among  you,  and  are  over  you  in  the  Lord  ;  and  to 
esteem  them  very  highly  for  their  ministry's  sakey* 
And  in  the  first  Epistle  to  Timothy,  v.  17,  18 : 
*  Give  double  honour,  for  they  are  worthy  of  it,  to 
the  ]}ii'esbyters  ivho  govern  ivelL'  Those  who  pre- 
side, are  universally  those  who  are  called  the 
presbyters  or  elders,  and  who  compose  the  eccle- 
siastick  senate,  whether  they  may  preach  the 
Gospel  or  have  some  superior  ministry." — Beau- 
sobre, Serm.  xviii.  sur  les  Rom. 

The  office  of  lay-elders  was  then  unknown  in 
the  apostles'  days.  It  is  not  sanctioned  by  Scrip- 
ture ;  consequently  a  Church  which  has  them,  is 
not  formed  upon  the  platform  laid  down  in  the 
word  of  God. 

That  the  term  elders,  designated  a  ministerial 
or  clerical  office,  appears  from  the  apostles  calling 
themselves  elders,  as  well  as  presbyters  and  dea- 
cons; for  as  the  apostolick  office  is  the  source  of, 
and  includes  every  other,  so,  to  express  their  hu- 
mility, to  convince  men  that  they  did  not  wish  to 
assume  too  great  state,  or  to  "  lord  it  over  God's 
heritage,''  the  apostles,  by  way  of  condescension, 
and  in  imitation  of  their  blessed  Master,  desig- 


*  The  author  has  in  this,  as  in  other  quotations  from  French 
authors,  given  the  hteral  translation  of  their  Bible  citations. 


EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE.  89 

nated  themselves  by  the  inferior  titles  of  their 
office. 

Upon  this  subject  Du  Bosc  says: — 
"  But  remark  here  the  extreme  humility  of  St. 
Paul,  and  the  perfect  modesty  he  evinces  in  this 
passage.  (Eph.  iii.  7,  8.)  He  was  an  apostle,  * 
that  is  to  say,  exalted  to  the  highest  and  most 
eminent  of  all  charges,  to  the  most  sublime  de- 
gree to  which  any  one  has  ever  ascended  upon 
earth.  For  an  apostle  was  a  living  image  of  the 
eternal  Son  of  God,  as  we  have  already  shown  to 
you.  He  possessed  his  authority,  his  infallibility, 
his  power.  He  was  a  man  so  much  above  men, 
that  he  appeared  to  be  a  second  Jesus  Christ  in 
the  world,  in  whatever  related  to  the  instruction 
of  the  Church.  Nevertheless,  here  you  see  him 
representing  himself  as  a  simple  servant.  '  God,' 
says  he,  '  hath  made  me  a  minister  of  his  Gospel  j' 
for  the  term  minister,  means  properly  a  servant. 
Still  further:  in  the  New  Testament  it  relates  to 
the  very  least  of  all  the  sacred  services ;  for  it  is 
that  of  deaconship  which  has  been  attributed  to 
those  who  have  the  care  of  the  alms,  of  the 
charities,  and  of  the  assistance  of  the  poor;  so 
that  St.  Paul,  according  to  the  Greek  language, 
says  here  that  God  has  made  him  the  deacon  of 
the  Gospel.  It  is  thus  that  the  least  titles  sullice 
great  personages  for  to  speak  of  themselves,  of 
their  employments,  and  of  their  virtues.  The 
greater  they  are  in  fact,  the  more  do  they  aim  to 
appear  little  in  words,  that  in  this  point  they  may 
resemble  the  stars,  of  which  the  most  vast  and  the 
most  ample  appear  the  least  to  our  eyes,  because 
of  their  prodigious  elevation  in  the  firmament. 
But  especially  is  this  modesty  necessary  and  suit- 
able for  pastors,  who  are  the  successors  and  dis- 
ciples of  him  who  called  himself  *  lowly  of  hearty 

8* 


90  EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE. 

who  protested  that  his  '  kingdom  was  not  of  this 
world  f  who  '  had  neither  form  nor  comeliness,^  nor 
any  thing  exterior,  '  that  we  should  desire  him;" 
and  who  appeared  as  '  a  icorm,^  rather  than  *  a 
man,''  upon  earth ;  he  took  only  the  abject  form  of 
a  slave  and  of  a  servant,  and  therefore  it  is,  those 
who  followed  him  could  not  do  better  than  to  take 
the  name  and  title  of  it." — (Eiivres  de  Du  Bosc, 
tom.  V.  p.  363,  364. 

Many  other  portions  of  sacred  writ,  besides 
those  referred  to,  might  be  adduced  in  further 
confirmation ;  but  this  is  needless,  as  they  have 
been  so  well  set  forth,  and  the  arguments  thereon 
so  ably  defended,  by  Dr.  Bowden  and  Dr.  Cooke, 
in  their  respective  works  upon  the  subject. 

There  is,  nevertheless,  one  more  proof  from  the 
divine  word,  which  deserves  a  very  deep  and 
serious  consideration.  It  is  the  mode  of  our 
blessed  Lord's  address  in  each  of  his  Epistles  to 
the  seven  bishops  of  the  Asiatick  Churches,  by  St. 
John.  After  informing  this  beloved  disciple  that 
*'  the  seven  stars  are  the  angels  of  the  seven 
churches,''^  and  that  "  the  seven  candlesticks  which 
thou  sawest  are  the  seven  churches,''''  he  directed  his 
apostle  to  write  seven  Epistles,  and  to  superscribe 
each  of  these  Epistles  to  the  angel  of  his  several 
church. 

It  is  truly  astonishing  to  what  miserable  expe- 
dients of  shifting  and  evasion  some  men  who  are 
opposed  to  the  Episcopate  have  been  driven  in 
order  to  get  rid  of  the  argument  upon  this  subject^ 
— to  see  how  men  of  fine  talent  and  admirable 
powers  of  reasoning  have  been  compelled  W) 
stoop  to  sophistry  and  manceuvre,  which  they 
otherwise  would  have  treated  with  scorn,  in  order 
that  they  might  support  a  favourite  system.  What 
must,  for  instance,  be  the  desperation  of  such  aa 


EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE.  91 

one,  who  would  contend  that  the  star,  or  the 
angel,  or  image  of  a  single  person,  is  not  to  be 
interpreted  in  the  singular,  but  the  plural  number; 
that  it  is  not  to  be  considered  individually,  but 
collectively ;  that  each  star  and  each  angel  is  to 
be  regarded,  not  as  the  emblem  of  him  who  pre- 
sides in  the  Church,  but  of  the  whole  Presbytery, 
that  is,  both  of  the  clergymen  and  laymen  who 
compose  it?  Now  such  an  interpretation  would 
render  the  figure  incorrect  and  unseemly;  there 
would  be  no  propriety  in  it ;  it  would  be  quite 
"  outre.^^  If  a  company  of  angels,  or  a  constella- 
tion of  stars,  had  been  employed,  such  an  image 
might  be  adapted  to  sot  forth  a  plurality  of  mi- 
nisters: as  it  now  stands,  to  make  it  signify  a 
presbytery,  is  to  put  it  on  the  rack,  to  suljject  it 
to  the  torture,  and  thus  to  wring  from  it,  by  dis- 
tortion, a  meaning  utterly  foreign  to  its  import. 

Again,  it  is  utterly  contrary  to  the  analogy  of 
Scri])ture;  angels  and  stars,  as  will  be  hereafter 
shown,  are  in  the  sacred  volume  employed  to 
typify  the  Gospel  ministry,  but  never  is  a  single 
angel  or  star  employed  to  signify  a  collection  or 
pluraHty  of  ministers.  ^ 

Further,  if  the  stars  do  represent  the  presbytery, 
in  which  are  now  inchided  lay-elders,  it  would  be 
incorrect,  as  they  (the  lay-elders)  are  never  not 
only  not  represented  as  stars,  but,  as  already  lias 
been  shown,  never  in  Scripture  once  spoken  of. 

In  fine,  if  these  fiirurcs  do  not  refer  to  the  bi- 
shops  of  the  Church,  it  seems  as  if  they  were 
designed  for  the  very  jiurpose  of  misleading  ns. 
Our  blessed  Lord  foreknew  what  contests  upon 
the  subject  of  Episcopacy  would  take  place  in  his 
Church,  yet,  instead  of  employing  language  or 
figures  that  would  guard  against  it,  he  liere  uses 
such  as  must  infallibly  carry  with  them  to  the 


^  EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE. 

mind,  the  idea  of  a  presidency  and  primacy  in 
each  of  the  seven  churches. 

Neither  can  the  terms  relate,  as  Beza,  Camp- 
bell, and  others  contend,  to  the  moderator  of 
Presbytery,  since  his  relation  as  such  to  the 
Church  is  not  official,  gives  him  no  right  of  dis- 
tinction, and  is  only  temporary ;  since  he  exercises 
no  authority  or  discipline  over  his  brethren,  but 
is  only  the  organ  of  their  voice ;  nor  is  he,  as 
moderator,  an  angel,  (that  is,  a  messenger  from 
God,)  having  no  such  employment  to  them  ;  but 
is,  in  fact,  only  the  momentary  servant  of  the 
assembled  Presbytery. 

Other  interpretations  are  given  of  this  subject 
by  the  learned  Presbyterians  of  the  old  Geneva 
school,  most  of  whom  consider  the  star  and  angel 
of  each  Church  as  relating  to  its  one  president. 
The  epistle,  they  say,  is  addressed  to  the  pastor 
of  the  church,  thus: — 

Henri  Clmtelain,  pastor  of  the  French  refu- 
gees at  Amsterdam,  says  : — "  It  was  to  the  angel 
of  the  church  at  Laodicea,  that  is  to  say,  to  the 
pastor  of  this  church,  and  in  his  person  to  all  the 
flock  of  which  he  was  the  head,  that  Jesus  Christ 
sent  this  admonition — '  Behold  I  stand,''  &,c." — 
Serm.  siir  Apoc.  iii.  20,  tom.  ii. 

Jossue  le  Yasseur,  professor  of'  theology  at 
Sedan,  in  1660,  says  : — "  It  is  this,  you  see,"  (God 
promising  eternal  life  and  glory  after  his  Church's 
afflictions,)  "  that  he  practises,  with  regard  to  the 
pastor  of  the  church  at  Smyrna,  in  these  words 
which  we  have  read  to  you,  exhorting  him  to 
perseverance  in  the  profession  of  the  truth,  and  in 
the  practice  of  holiness;  and  in  his  person  all  the 
members  of  the  Church  of  God,  saying,  '  Be  thou 
faithful  untodeathi   &,c,^^^-Serm*  sur  Apoc.  ii.  10. 


EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE.  93 

Louis  le  Blanc,  also  professor  of  theology  in 
the  same  college,  and  at  the  same  time,  (1660,) 
says: — "  Especially  this  is  the  comphiint  which 
Jesus  Christ  brings  by  the  apostle  John  against 
the  pastor  of  the  Church  of  Ephesus,  in  saying, 

*  Nevertheless^  I  have  somewhat  against  thee.^  " — 
Serm.  sur  Apoc.  ii.  5,  p.  6. 

Again,  he  says: — "  The  Lord  who  had  appear- 
ed unto  John  in  a  magnificent  manner,  and  all 
resplendent  with  glory,  and  who  commanded  him 
to  write  in  his  name  to  the  Churches  of  Asia,  to 
admonish  them  of  the  thinijs  which  his  wisdonfi 
deemed  necessary,  addresses  himself  here  parti- 
cularly to  the  angel,  that  is,  to  the  'pastor  and 
ruler  ( condacteiir )  of  the  Church  at  Ephesus^  and 
in  his  person  to  all  who  were  under  his  govern- 
ment:   and,    amongst    other   things,    he   says — 

*  Remember  from  whence  thou  art  fallen,'*  <fec." — 
Xr.  le  Blanc,  Serm.  sur  Apoc.  ii.  4,  5,  p.  7,  8. 

Jean  Daille  says  : — "  These  are  the  words  of 
our  Master,  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  all  good  and  all 
powerful  Lord  of  all  our  Churches,  which  he  has 
redeemed  by  his  blood,  which  he  illumines  by  his 
light,  which  he  conducts  by  his  providence,  watch- 
inar  them  and  beinsf  assiduous  in  the  midst  of 
them  which  he  chastens  also  with  his  paternal 
rod,  dispensing  to  them  with  a  divine  wisdom 
the  judgments  both  of  his  clemency  and  truth, 
according  as  is  most  suitable  for  his  glory  and 
for  their  salvation.  This  great  Pastor  of  his 
mystick  sheepfulds,  after  having  visited  seven  of 
them,  which  he  had  in  Asia,  having  observed 
exactly  what  was  to  be  found  in  them  of  good  and 
evil,  manifested  himself  to  his  servant  John,  and 
wished  that  he  should  write  seven  epistles  in  his 
name   to  the  seven   churches." — "  The  first  of 


EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE. 

these  epistles  was  addressed,  by  his  order,  to  the 
Church  at  Ephesus,  under  the  name  of  its  angel^ 
that  is  to  say,  of  the  pastor  who  had  the  charge  of 
it.''^ — Scrni.  sur  Apoc*  ii.  5,  p.  530. 

Again : — 

"  But  v.hat,  in  fine,  is  the  penalty  with  which 
he  menaces  the  pastor  of  Ephesus  and  his  flock? 
It  is — '  /  will  take  away  the  candlestick  out  of  his 
place.''  St.  John  has  already  illustrated  this  enigma 
in  the  first  chapter  of  his  Revelation,  where  having 
said  that  he  saw  '  seven  golden  candlesticks,''  he 
immediately  adds,  that  the  Lord  expressly  in- 
structed him  in  the  signification  of  this  vision, 
teachino^  him  that  the  seven  candlesticks  were  the 
seven  churches." — Idem,  p.  535. 

Further,  in  another  sermon,  the  same  author 
says: — "  He  dictated  these  words  formerly  to  his 
servant  John,  who  should  write  them  in  his  name, 
and  in  his  behalf,  to  the  church  at  Sardis,  one 
of  the  seven  Asiatick  churches  whom  he  honoured 
with  his  epistles.  For  although,  in  the  inscription 
of  these  divine  letters,  the  pastor  alone  is  named 
who  governed  each  of  these  churches,  nevertheless  it 
is  evident  that  they  were  written  for  the  entire 
body  of  the  flock,  that  is,  for  the  people  and  their 
rulers  (condacteurs)  conjointly." — Serm,  sur  Apoc. 
iii.  1 — 3,  p.  QQ^,  QQQ. 

Du  Bosc,  in  his  sermon  on  Lukewarmness, 
says: — "In  these  virtues,  mediocrity  is  criminal, 
moderation  is  vicious.  You  see  a  formal  proof 
thereof  in  our  text,  in  which  the  eternal  Son  of 
God,  addressing  himself  to  the  Christian  people 
of  Laodicea  in  the  person  of  its  pastor,  complains 
that  he  is  '  neither  cold  nor  hot.'' " — J)u  Bosc,  Serm* 
sur  les  Tiedes,  tom.  iv.  p.  113. 


EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE.  95 

Pictet  says: — *'  There  was  one  pastor  who  pre- 
sided in  their  assembhes:  on  this  account  it  is 
that  he  is  called  '  the  Angel  of  the  Church^''  Apoc. 
ii.  «fcc.  The  Jews  gave  the  title  of  Angel  to  their 
HIGH  priest:  they  gave  also  the  name  of  Angel 
to  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue." — Tom.  ii.  p. 
3,6. 

Jacques  Saurin,  pastor  at  the  Hague,  in  his 
discourse  on  the  Decay  of  Piety,  says : — '•  He  who 
speaks  in  our  text  to  the  angel,  that  is  to  say,  to 
the  bishop  of  Ephesus,  (eveqiie,)  and  in  his  person 
to  all  the  Church  of  that  city,  is  Jesus  Christ." — 
Serm.  sur  Apoc 

Easy  were  it  to  multiply  similar  quotations 
from  Presbyterian  writers,  but  those  already  pro- 
duced demonstrate  that  the  oldest  Presbyterian 
professors  never  once  dreamed  of  considering  the 
angel  as  the  type  of  the  presbyters,  but  of  the 
presiding  pastor ;  or,  if  such  a  thought  entered 
their  minds,  they  discarded  it  as  incongruous  and 
untenable  ;  nor  would  such  an  interpretation  have 
ever  been  introduced,  but  from  the  desperatenesi 
of  the  cause. 

In  fine,  Blondel,  the  greatest  and  most  powerful 
defender  of  Presbytery,  "  acknowledges  that  the 
angels  of  the  seven  churches  were  so  many  indi- 
viduals, to  whom,  as  their  exarchs  or  governors, 
the  actions  of  the  Church,  whether  glorious  or  in- 
famous, are  imputed." — Boicdeii^s  Letters,  second 
series,  let,  xi.  p.  127. 

But  then  Blondel,  with  others,  contends  that 
the  exarch  was  the  moderator  of  Presbytery,  a 
sentiment  already  evinced  to  be  perfectly  errone- 
ous ;  in  addition  to  which,  when  these  Revelations 
were  written,  there  was  certainly  a  bishop  who 


96  EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE. 

succeeded  Timothy  in  his  diocese.  Ignatius  in- 
forms us,  that  when  he  wrote  his  Epistle,  viz. 
twelve  years  after  the  return  of  St.  John  from 
Patmos,  Onesimus  was  bishop  of  Ephesus.  With 
every  candid  mind  this  would  put  the  question 
beyond  a  doubt.     "  Ex  uno  disce  omnes." 

Perhaps  some  further  light  may  be  shed  upon 
the  subject,  by  examining  the  scriptural  import 
and  application  of  the  terms  candlestick,  star,  and 
angel. 

As  we   are  creatures  of  sense,    and   as  we, 
therefore,  derive  all  our  ideas  from  the  material 
or  visible  objects  by  which  we  are  surrounded ; 
so  can  we  form   no  conceptions  of  spiritual   or 
heavenly  things  but  through  the  media  of  those 
which  are  sensible.     Hence  God,  in  compassion 
to  us,  has  been  pleased,  in  all  his  dispensations, 
to  teach  us  moral  and  spiritual  truths  by  figures, 
or  by  ideas,  borrowed  from  the  objects  with  which 
our  senses  are  conversant.    The  whole  world  itself 
was   a   type  of  the  higher  worlds  of  creation. 
Eden,   the   first  abode  of  man,  was  filled  with 
hieroglyphicks,  in  which  every  creature  presented, 
to  the  first  of  mankind,  a  picture  of  correspondent 
heavenly  things.     The  same  was  the  case  with 
the  tabernacle  and  temple,  all  of  whose  divine 
institutions  were  types  or  images  of  "  the  world 
to  come."     God  has  followed  the  same  mode  of 
instruction  in  his  word :  he  has  employed  not  only 
the  productions  of  nature,  and  the  employments 
of  men,  and  the  ofiices  of  peculiar  persons,  but 
also  the  very  productions  of  human  skill  and  art, 
to  lead  up  the  minds  of  believers  to  the  contem- 
plation of  spiritual  objects.     Thus  the  candle- 
sticks, the  stars,  and  the  angels  were  symbols  of 
correspondent  objects  in  his  Church. 

In  Exodus  XXV.  31,  32,  we  have  an  account  of 


EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE.  97 

the  candlestick  of  gold  which  Moses  made  by  the 
command  of  God,  upon  whose  stock  and  branches 
were  placed  seven  immoveable  lamps,  which  the 
'priests  ivere  to  keep  constantly  lighted  and  supplied 
with  oil,  and  which  were  placed  in  the  holy  place, 
or  second  court  of  the  tabernacle.     This  seven- 
fold golden  candlestick  was  considered  by  the 
faithful  amongst  the  Jews,  (and  our  Lord  himself 
has  confirmed  the  truth  of  their  sentiment,)  aa  the 
representation  of  the  Church.     Its  lamps  being 
seven  in  number,  which   the  Jews,  and  others 
after  them,  have  called  "  the  number  of  per- 
fection," intimated  the  sevenfold  or  various  and 
perfect  operations  of  the  enlightening  Spirit  of 
God.     Its  light  being  kindled  by  the  priests,  who 
derived  it  from  the  sacred  fire  on  the  altar,  inti- 
mated the  instruction  imparted  to  the  Church  by 
a  ministry  divinely   constituted,  and  emanating 
from  that  atonement  which  is  the  great  source  as 
well  as  object  of  knowledge  to  the  Church.     Its 
oil,  with  which  it  was  continually  supplied,  taught 
them  both  the  nature  and  communication  of  that 
grace  which  keeps  alive  the  Christian  faith,  "  the 
unction  of  the  Holy  One,  tchich  teacheth  all  things.'''* 
It  was  then  an  emblem  of  the  Church,  of  which, 
to  intimate   his  perpetual  presence  with  it,  the 
Saviour  represented  himself  as  "  tcalking  in  the 
midst  of  the  golden  candlesticks.^^ 

The  candlestick  difters  in  its  type  from  the 
stars:  the  one  is  the  emblem  of  the  Church,  the 
other  the  symbol  of  its  ministry. 

Stars  are  the  most  luminous  and  brilliant  ob- 
jects in  nature  whilst  placed  in  the  heavens, 
where  they  may  be  seen,  and  whence  they  shed 
their  influences;  they  are  universally  admired 
and  celebrated;  they  are  images  employed  in  all 
poetick  songs ;  they  serve  as  lamps  to  enlighten 

9 


98  EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE, 

US  during  the  absence  of  the  sun — as  rulers  to 
govern  the  seasons — as  light-houses  to  direct  the 
toil-worn,  tempest-tossed  mariner — whilst,  beside 
their  visible  rays,  they  emit  secret  influences 
upon  all  below.  Hence  mankind,  when  they  for- 
sook the  worship  of  the  true  God,  made  them  the 
objects  of  their  adoration,  and  considered  them 
as  regulating  their  destinies.  To  counteract  this 
idolatry,  Jehovah  not  only  expressly  forbade  it  in 
liis  word,  but  employed  these  heavenly  bodies  as 
types  or  figures  of  corresponding  objects  in  his 
kingdom.  Thus  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord  is  called 
a  star;  his  ministers  likewise  are  so  designated; 
but  never  is  the  Church  represented  by  a  star. 
If  the  Saviour  be  figured  forth  to  us  as  the  Sun 
of  Righteousness,  the  Church  is  represented  by 
the  moon — shining  during  the  darkness  of  the 
night — deriving  from  the  sun  her  splendour — 
ever  waxing  or  waning — her  disk  disfigured  with 
spots:  she  "  looks  forth  fair  as  the  Qnoonf  but  no 
where  is  she  figured  forth  by  the  stars. 

"  Pastors  or  ministers,"  says  Cruden  in  his 
Concordance,  "  of  the  Gospel,  who  ought  to  shine 
like  stars  in  respect  of  the  brightness  and  purity 
of  their  lives  and  doctrines,  are  called  stars." 

*'  In  fact,"  says  Du  Bosc,  "  the  heralds  of 
Christ  are  living  and  animated  stars,  who  distri- 
bute in  the  Church  the  light  of  truth — who  pierce 
the  darkness  of  the  night  of  the  age,  and  the 
obscurity  of  error  and  ignorance — who  enlighten 
and  console  the  faithful  during  the  absence  of 
their  Sun,  that  is  to  say,  during  the  absence  of 
that  Saviour  who  resides,  hidden  from  them,  far 
above  the  heavens ;  and  it  is  by  the  salutary  force 
of  their  influences  that  God  quickens  souls,  and 
renders  them  fertile  in  good  works." — (Euvres  de 
Du  Bosc,  torn.  iv.  p.  747. 


EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE.  99 

But  the  stars  are  ruling  powers  in  nature — 
this  is  not  only  a  coiximonly  received  idea,  but 
founded  in  fact;  the  Scriptures  tell  us  that  ^^they 
RULE  over  the  day  and  over  the  nigkt.'^''  If,  then, 
the  image  be  correct,  they  can  only  typify  those 
objects  which  rule  also,  though  in  another  hemis- 
phere. This  correct  correspondence  of  the  image 
with  the  object  it  represents,  appears  in  the  whole 
of  Scripture.  We  may  challenge  a  single  passage 
to  be  produced,  in  which  they  are  figuratively 
used,  but  they  refer  either  to  temporal  or  spiritual 

RULERS. 

Jesus  Christ  the  Lord  is  gpoken  of  in  Scripture 
as  a  star:  Balaam  thus  describes  him,  Numbers 
xxiv.  7.  To  St.  John,  Jesus  declared — "  /aw  the 
bright  and  morning  star.''''  He  was  so,  because 
of  the  unsullied  purity  of  his  nature — the  pro- 
fundity of  his  light  and  wisdom — the  benignancy 
of  his  aspect — the  glory  of  his  person  and  ministry : 
'*  In  him  was  light,  and  that  light  was  the  light  of 
men.''''  But  the  apostles  were  images  of  Christ — 
burning  and  shining  lights — his  representatives 
upon  earth:  so  are  their  successors.  The  ruling 
ministers,  or  bishops  of  the  churches,  are  repre- 
sented by  the  stars  which  Jesus  holds  in  his 
hands,  to  intimate  his  mission  of  them,  his  care 
and  protection  of  them,  and  the  honour  he  has 
conferred  on  them — that  from  him,  whose  face 
shines  as  the  sun  in  his  strength,  they  derive  their 
influence  and  lustre ;  he  holds  them  forth  as  the 
moral  lights  of  the  world,  in  the  period  of  which 
it  is  said — "  The  night  is  far  spent,  the  day  is  at 
hand,^^  Rom.  xiii.  12;  that  they  may  shed  their 
influences  upon  the  Church,  who,  because  of  this 
privilege,  are  distinguished  from  all  others  by  the 
appellation — "  Children  of  the  light.'''' 

To  the  very  same  purpose  tends  the  designa- 


100  EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE. 

tion  "  atisrels."  The  word  AyAA«?  signifies  a 
messenger  or  legate.  It  is  a  title  of  office  when 
applied  to  intellectual  beings  whom  God  employs 
as  his  messengers  in  providence;  and  it  also  in- 
timates, they  are  persons  of  exalted  power.  It  is 
also  applied  to  the  ruling  elements  of  nature,  by 
which  Jehovah  acts;  "  whence,"  says  Parkhurst, 
"  they  are  called  his  personators^  instruments  of 
action,  or  visihiUty.  Compare  Heb.  i.  6.  with 
Psalm  xcvii.  7;  Heb.  i.  7  with  Psalm  civ.  4,  and 
other  places." 

The  title  is  applied  to  Jesus  Christ  the  Lord ; 
he  is  called,  "  The  angel  of  the  covenanf — "  The 
angel  of  his  presence''^ — "  The  angel  Jehovah,'''* 
Jacob  calls  him,  ''  The  angel  loho  redeemed  me  from 
all  evil.''''  But  these  terms  or  titles  relate  to  him 
as  the  ruler  of  his  Church — "  I  ivill  send,''"'  said 
God  to  Moses,  "  my  angel  before  thee.^^  This  angel 
was  to  be  their  protector,  guide,  and  ruler,  "  the 
leader  and  commander  of  the  people.''''  Christ,  as 
the  head  of  his  Church,  is  thus  emphatically 
entitled  an  angel,  Zech.  i.  12;  Rev.  xi.  1. 

The  term  is  also  applied  to  those  ministers 
who  are  ambassadors  or  legates  of  Christ;  and 
whenever  it  is  applied  by  God  to  any  human 
beings,  it  signifies  they  are  his  representatives. 
As,  then,  the  term,  in  its  applications  to  spiritual 
agents,  intimates  rulers — as,  in  its  application  to 
the  elements,  it  is  given  to  the  ruling  elements— 
as,  in  its  apphcation  to  Christ  the  Saviour,  it  im- 
ports his  office  as  ruler  or  head  of  the  Church; 
so  analogy  will  require  that,  in  its  application  to 
men,  it  should  signify  those  who  are  Christ's 
personators,  representatives,  his  images  as  rulers 
and  governors  of  his  Church,  that  is  to  say, 
bishops. 

These,   Sir,  are  some  of  the  reasons  which 


EPISCOPACY  SUSTAINED  BY  SCRIPTURE.  10.1 

have  been  by  me  most  deliberately  weighed  and 
maturely  reflected  upon,  and  these  afford  me 
demonstration  that  Episcopacy  is  the  only  legiti- 
mate mode  of  Church  government ;  that,  equally 
with  the  institutions  of  the  Levitical  economy,  it 

is  DIVINE  IN  ITS  ORIGIN. 


9^ 


LETTER   VII. 

A  PRESCRIPT  FORM  OF  PRAYER  PREFERABLE  IN 
PUBLICK  WORSHIP. 


Right  Rev.  and  dear  Sir, 

Prayer  is  an  essential  part  of  divine  worship — 
one  of  the  principal  exercises  of  religion.  It  is 
the  highest  act  of  homage  which  a  creature  can 
offer  to  his  Creator.  It  is  the  noblest  engage- 
ment in  which  an  intelligent  being  can  be  em- 
ployed. It  is  the  happiest  privilege  to  which  our 
nature  can  be  raised,  viz.  to  hold  converse  with 
the  august  and  supreme  Ruler  of  the  universe. 
It  is  a  duty  of  religion  which  includes  almost  every 
other,  since  it  requires  the  exercise  of  humihty, 
of  faith,  hope,  and  charity.  It  is  an  acknowledg- 
ment of  all  the  perfections  of  Deity  ;  a  recognition 
of  our  guiltiness,  dependency,  and  need,  and  at 
the  same  time  an  expression  of  our  confidence  in 
him  who  is  "  our  Father  in  heaven.^^  In  fine, 
prayer  is  an  assemblage  of  all  the  various  acts  of 
adoration,  an  epitome  of  all  the  diflferent  services 
of  religion. 

On  this  account  it  is  that  Scripture  lays  so 
much  stress  on  this  one  duty,  so  frequently  enjoins 
it,  and  by  so  many  motives  presses  upon  as  its 
obligation.  By  prayer  the  Christian  is  charac- 
terized :  "  Whoso  invoketh  the  name  of  the  Lord 
shall  he  saved.^^     Its  performance  is  entitled  a 


A  PRESCRIPT  rORM  OF  PRAYER,  &C.  103 

sacrifice :  *'  Let  my  prayer  come  before  thee  as  in- 
cense, and  the  lifting  up  of  my  hands  as  the  evening 
sacrifice — so  ivill  ice  render  unto  thee  the  calves  of 
our  lips.''''  From  his  condescension  in  listening 
to  our  requests,  Jehovaii  is  distinguished  from 
the  idols  of  heathenism  by  this  emphatick  title, 
"  Thou  that  hearest  prayer;''''  whilst,  in  fine,  he 
has  designated  his  sanctuary  by  a  name  derived 
from  these  publick  acts  of  devotion,  as — "  The 
house  of  prayer^'' — ^^  My  house  shall  be  called  the 
house  of  prayer.^'' 

This  religious  exercise  constituted  the  most 
important  part  of  the  worship  of  the  primitive 
Church,  of  which  we  read — "  they  all  continued 
with  one  accord  in  prayer  and  supplication ;  and 
ever  since,  in  Christian  assemblies,  it  has  been 
maintained,  and  is  allowed  to  be,  not  only  an 
integral  part  of  divine  worship,  but  beyond  all 
others  the  most  important. 

Now  that  which  is  so  important  ought  to  be 
done  well ;  hence  Scripture  admonishes  us  "  not 
to  offer  unto  God  the  sacrifice  of  fools. ''^ — ^^  Be  ?iot 
rash  with  thy  mouth,  and  let  not  thine  heart  be 
hasty  to  utter  any  thing  before  God;  for  God  is  in 
heaven,  and  thou  upon  earth,  therefore  let  thy  words 
be  few.'''' 

That  this  duty  may  be  rightly  discharged, 
liturgical  services  have  been  compiled  for  the  use 
of  different  churches  by  their  respective  bishops. 
But  these  formularies  of  prayers  liave  been  by 
some  greatly  objected  to ;  indeed  there  is  no 
one  thing  towards  which  multitudes  in  our  day, 
whether  from  education  or  j)rejudicc,  or  some 
other  motives,  manifest  a  stronger  disgust  than 
against  the  use  of  a  liturgy  or  form  of  j)rayer. 
It  becomes,  then,  a  serious  matter  of  inquiry 
amongst  sober  Christians,  whether  such  preju- 


104         A  PRESCRIPT  FORM  OF  PRAYER 

dices  are  well  founded — whether  such  a  mode  of 
divine  worship  is  suitable  or  improper. 

Many,  indeed,  of  the  most  eminent  non-con- 
formists, both  in  former  and  latter  times,  have  not 
altogether  objected  to  a  liturgical  service.     Thus 
the  excellent  Philip  Henry,  as  is  recorded  in  his 
life  written  by  his  son,  conceived  it  his  duty  not 
to  reject  the  formulary  of  the  Anglican  Church; 
but  when  he  could,  he  attended  the  service  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  of  his  country,  and  not  only 
persuaded  others  to  attend  also,  but  prevailed  on 
some  Presbyterian  ministers,  by  his  arguments, 
to  give  the  liturgy  thereof  their  sanction.     Dr. 
Watts,  also  an  eminent  Congregational  divine, 
in  a  work  of  his,  entitled  "  A  Guide  to  Prayer," 
says  of  a  form,  "  Christ  himself  seems  to  have 
indulged  it  to  his  disciples  in  their  infant  state  of 
Christianity.     Luke  xi.  18.     I  grant  also,  that 
sometimes  the   most  improved  saints  may  find 
their  own  wants  and  desires,  and  the  frames  of 
their  own  hearts,   so  happily  expressed  in  the 
words  of  other  men,  that  they  cannot  find  better, 
and  may,  therefore,  in  a  very  pious  manner,  use 
the  same,  especially  when  they  labour  under  a 
present  deadness  of  spirit  and  great  indis])osition 
for  the  duty.     It  is  also  evident  that  many  assist- 
ances may  be  borrowed,  by  younger  and  older 
Christians,  from  forms  of  prayer  well  composed, 
without  the  use  of  the  whole  form  as  a  prayer ; 
and  if  I  may  have  leave  to  speak  the  language  of 
a  judicious  author,  who  wrote  some  years  ago,  I 
would  say  with  him,  '  that  forms  may  be  useful, 
and  in  some  cases  necessary.' " — Watts'  Guide, 
%  iii.  c.  L 

In  accordance  with  these  sentiments,  he  com- 
posed a  variety  of  forms  for  the  use  of  other  per- 


PREFERABLE  IN  PUBLICKL  WORSHIP.  105 

sons.  Dr.  Doddridge  did  the  same  in  his  "  Rise 
and  Progress,"  <fcc.  In  like  manner,  Matthew 
Henry,  the  expositor,  not  only  wrote  a  work, 
entitled  "  A  Method  lor  Prayer,"  consisting  of 
arrangements  of  Scripture  ex[)ressions  under  a 
variety  of  heads ;  but  he  also  composed  and 
published  numerous  forms  for  individuals  and 
families ;  for  different  circumstances,  relations, 
and  periods  of  human  life.  The  same  has  been 
done  by  many  others,  both  in  ancient  and  modern 
times,  and  among  various  parties  of  Christians. 

The  question,  then,  is  not  whether  the  use  of 
a  form  of  prayer  be  lawful,  for  this  is  conceded, 
but  whether  it  be  most  expedient  and  suitable. 

That  it  is  the  most  proper  mode  of  publick 
worship,  will  appear  from  an  examination  into 
its  utility,  necessity,  antiquity,  and  sanctions. 

Many  and  great  are  the  advantages  peculiar  to 
a  publick  formulary  of  devotion.  It  admits  of 
that  due  previous  iMEDITATION  and  treparation 
by  which  the  mind  may  be  fitted  for  the  solemn 
engagements  of  prayer;  so  that,  beforehand,  we 
may  have  those  affections  awakened,  which  are 
to  be  expressed  either  in  adoration,  confession, 
petition,  thanksgiving,  or  the  other  acts  of  devo- 
tion ;  an  advantage  which  cannot  belong  to  an 
extempore  prayer,  inasmuch  as  we  must  previ- 
ously be  ignorant  what  the  prayer  will  be,  whether 
it  will  suit  our  case  or  not — whether  it  will  meet 
our  religious  views  or  not ;  and  such  preparation 
is  of  great  moment,  if  we  would  acquit  our- 
selves suitably.  Wise  and  skilful  musicians  will 
always  tune  their  instruments  before  the  concert 
begins. 

Forms,  also,  are  better  adapted  to  the  spirit  of 
LIGHT  and  INTELLIGENCE  by  which  our  devotions 
should  ever  be  characterized ;  for  prayer  is  the 


106         A  PRESCRIPT  FORM  OF  PRAYER 

discourse  of  an  intelligent  creature  with  his  God  ; 
not  the  mummery  of  ignorance,  but  high  converse 
with  the  glorious  Supreme.  And  as  words  are 
necessary  to  it,  to  fix  the  attention,  to  excite  the 
zeal,  and  to  interest  the  imagination  and  senses 
in  these  spiritual  sacrifices,  so  ought  the  matter 
and  words  of  the  prayer  to  be  thoroughly  under- 
stood ;  an  advantage  which  frequently  is  wanted 
in  extemporaneous  prayer,  as  often  not  only  is 
the  meaning  of  the  person  who  offers  such  prayer 
not  perfectly  comprehended  till  his  sentence  be 
finished,  but  sometimes  there  are  things  uttered, 
to  which,  after  due  consideration,  we  could  not 
repeat  the  cordial  Amen.  The  service  which 
God  requires,  is  *'  a  reasonable  service''' — we  must 
pray  with  "  the  understanding"  as  well  as  with 
the  heart. 

Faith  and  confidence  are  no  less  necessary 
to  enter  into  the  temper,  which  is  a  condition 
absolutely  necessary  for  the  offering  up  of  accept- 
able prayer — '*  Let  him  ask  in  faith,  nothing  doubt" 
ing,''^  a  disposition  which  differs  most  essentially 
from  rashness  and  presumption.  Now  this  temper 
cannot  always  be  exercised  with  the  extempo- 
raneous prayers  of  others ;  as,  until  the  prayer 
be  uttered,  no  one  can  exercise  faith  in  regard  to 
what  shall  be  said  ;  and  often  is  it  the  case,  that 
in  such  prayers  an  attentive  listener  finds  much 
to  reject;  much  from  which  he  is  most  conscien- 
tiously compelled  to  withhold  his  assent ;  and 
hence,  as  every  man  will,  in  offering  his  extem- 
poraneous prayers,  speak  according  to  the  present 
state  and  feelings  of  his  own  mind,  he  may  not 
only  express  himself  in  an  ambiguous  manner,  or 
"  speak  unadvisedly  icith  his  lips,^^  but  he  always 
will  in  his  prayers  give  utterance  to  his  own  sen- 
timents in  doctrine,  which  may  not  unfrequently 


PREFERABLE  IN  PUBLICK  WORSHIP.  107 

disagree  from  those  of  many  of  his  hearers ;  so 
that  the  faith  requisite  for  the  prayer  "  to  come  up 
with  acceptance  before  God,''"'  is  not  in  exercise: 
but  such  an  objection  cannot  possibly  be  brought 
against  a  form  which  he  foreknows. 

Equally  important  is  it,  that  prayer  should 
proceed  from  a  spirit  of  IiNtegrity  and  up- 
rightness. "  Jehovah  sea rcheth  the  hearts' ' — he 
"  dcsircth  truth  in  the  inioard  parts  ;^''  when  these 
are  wanting,  he  has  declared,  "  When  you  stretch 
forth  your  hands,  I  will  hide  mine  eyes;  yea,  ivhen 
you  make  many  prayers,  I  will  not  hear"  There 
is,  then,  as  every  Christian  will  avow,  who  knows 
any  thing  of  himself,  reason  to  fear  greatly  upon 
this  point :  for  as  "  the  heart  is  deceitful  above  all 
things ;"  as  it  imposes  not  only  upon  others,  but 
also  upon  the  man  himself;  so  it  leads  oft-times 
to  mistake  the  mere  workings  of  animal  passion 
for  devout  aspirations  of  soul.  The  mere  novelty 
or  pecuharity  of  expression  frequently  so  delights 
the  fancy,  and  awakens  the  passions,  as  to  afford 
pleasurable  sensations,  which,  if  they  were  duly 
scrutinized  and  brought  to  the  unerring  test, 
would  prove  to  be  neither  more  nor  less  than  mere 
theatrical  emotion ;  whilst,  w4ien  this  is  wanting, 
the  extemporaneous  prayer  is  generally  accounted 
so  dull,  that  it  is  painfully  irksome  ;  its  wearisome 
length  is  complained  of.  And  every  man  must 
admit,  that  he  has  seen  sometimes  a  whole  con- 
gregation sitting  down  in  a  state  of  fatiirue,  or 
waiting  with  anxious  impatience,  in  such  prayers, 
for  their  close — welcoming-  it,  when  at  last  it  has 
arrived,  with  a  smile  of  delight — and  after  the 
termination  of  the  service,  has  heard  them  lament- 
ing to  each  other  the  extreme  tediousness  and 
disgust  they  had  previously  felt.  Thus,  sincerity 
und  uprightness  were  absent ;  a  disadvantage  by 


108  A  PRESCRIPT  FORM  OF  PRAYER 

no  means  so  likely  to  be  attendant  upon  a  well 
composed  and  previously  known  liturgy. 

Nor  is  a  serious  and  solemn  temper  of  less 
moment.  When  we  reflect  on  the  greatness  and 
awful  majesty  of  the  Being  with  whom  we  con- 
verse, together  with  the  unspeakable  importance 
of  the  engagement  itself,  it  will  be  seen,  that  to 
trifle  in  such  an  exercise,  is  not  only  to  be  guilty 
of  the  grossest  folly  ourselves,  but  also  to  offer 
the  most  daring  insult  to  the  dread  Supreme. 
But  can  there  be  seriousness  and  solemnity, 
when,  as  is  often  the  case,  the  people  are  dis- 
tressed with  the  crude,  undigested  notions  and 
expressions  of  him  who,  as  the  offerer  of  prayer, 
presents  himself,  as  their  mouth,  to  the  Majesty 
of  heaven,  and  when  they  feel  either  pity  or  con- 
tempt for  his  weakness?  Can  there  be  serious- 
ness when  the  prayer  is  made  the  means,  (and 
this  is  not  uncommon,)  by  him  who  offers  it,  of 
displaying  his  talents,  of  uttering  fine  things,  of 
showing  his  attainments  in  verbiage,  of  awaken- 
ing the  admiration  of  his  auditors,  and  in  fine, 
of  converting  the  sacred  desk  into  an  arena  of 
display  and  compensation,  of  amusing  and  grati- 
fying the  auditory  upon  the  one  part,  and  receiv- 
ing, in  exchange,  their  admiration  and  applause 
on  the  other  ?  Is  there  no  danger  lest  he  deceive, 
whilst  amusing  the  silly  and  thoughtless,  by  such 
meretricious  glare,  to  their  utter  undoing;  and 
lest  he  himself,  in  snuffing  up  the  gale  of  their 
applause,  find,  like  Herod,  that,  in  inhahng  it,  he 
may  be  drawing  in  the  pestilence  of  eternal  wrath  ? 
Can  any  attitude  be  conceived  of,  either  in  minister 
or  people,  more  unchristian? 

"  If  angels  tremble,  'tis  at  such  a  sight." 

In  a  word,  can  there  be  seriousness  when  the 


PREFERABLE  IN  PUBLICK  WORSHIP.  109 

whole  congregation  is  thrown  into  a  titter,  or  their 
countenances  overspfead  with  a  broad  grin,  at 
hearing  the  ridiculous  thoughts  and  ludicrous 
expressions  which  some  well-meaning  but  silly 
persons  sometimes  utter?  and  no  man  surely  will 
have  the  hardihood  to  assert  that  such  things  are 
not  sometimes  witnessed.  But  a  form  of  well 
composed  prayer  excludes  all  such  occasions  of 
levity,  and  is  every  way  calculated  to  produce 
deep  seriousness  and  solemnity  of  mind. 

Evidently,  then,  it  is  useful;  it  has  peculiar 
advantages.  Is  it  then  intended  to  exclude  and 
prohibit  altogether  extemporaneous  prayer?  By 
no  means ;  there  are  circumstances  in  which  it  is 
highly  proper.  Upon  this  point  Dr.  Watts,  (here 
introduced,  because  an  authority  to  whom  multi- 
tudes of  Dissenters  bow,)  in  his  "Guide  to  Prayer," 
says,  "  Some  persons  imagine  that,  if  they  use 
no  form,  they  must  always  pray  extempore,  and 
without  premeditation ;  and  are  ready  to  think 
that  all  free  or  conceived  prayer  is  extemporary. 
But  these  things  ought  to  be  distinguished.  Con- 
ceived prayer  is  not  when  we  have  the  words  of 
our  prayer  formed  beforehand  to  direct  our 
thoughts,  but  we  conceive  the  matter  or  sub- 
stance of  our  addresses  to  God  first  in  our  minds, 
and  then  put  those  conceptions  into  such  expres- 
sions as  we  think  most  proper.  Extemporary 
prayer  is  when  we,  without  any  reflection  or  me- 
ditation beforehand,  address  ourselves  to  God, 
and  speak  the  thoughts  of  our  hearts  as  fast  as 
we  conceive  them.  Now  this  is  most  properly 
done  in  that  which  is  called  ejaculatory  prayer, 
when  we  lift  up  our  thoughts  to  God  in  short 
breathings  of  request  or  thanksgiving,  in  the  midst 
of  any  common  affairs  of  life." 

The  same  eminent  divine,  also,  in  the  abova 

10 


no        A  PRESCRIPT  FORM  OF  PRAYER 

mentioned  work,  not  only  advises  pre-meditation, 
but  pre-composition  of  prayers,  to  private  Chris- 
tians, and  especially  to  ministers.  He  tells  them, 
"  they  should  so  prepare  as  if  they  expected  no 
assistance  in  this  work."  But  to  quote  his  advice 
farther  upon  this  point,  would  carry  these  letters 
to  far' too  considerable  a  leno^th. 

Still  it  may  be  asked,  "  Does  not  the  use  of  a 
form  straiten  the  Holy  Spirit  in  his  assistance  in 
prayer?"     To  this  it  may  be  answered.  What  is 
the  office  of  this  "  Spirit  of  grace  and  supplica- 
tionV     Surely  none  will  contend  that  he  inspires 
the  prayers  themselves;  this  would  be  to  make 
him  a  "  lying  spirit,''''  because  it  would  be  to  attri- 
bute to  him  thousands  of  prayers  and  ideas  which 
are  uttered,  not  only  in  contradiction  to  each  other, 
but  in  direct  variance  with  revealed  truth.     Let 
Dr.  Watts,  who  has  so  fully  endeavoured  to  set 
forth  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  prayer,  and 
who,  consequently,  would  not  under-rate  his  gra- 
cious agency,  be  listened   to  upon  this   subject. 
He  says,  "  Those  persons  expect  too  mucli  from 
the  Spirit  in  our  day,  who  wait  for  all  inclinations 
to  pray  from  immediate  dictates  of  the  Spirit  of 
God" — "  Who    expect    such   aids   of  the    Holy 
Spirit,    as   to  make   their    prayers    become   the 
proper  work  of  inspiration" — "  Who   hope  for 
such  influences  of  the  Spirit,  as  to  make  their 
own  study  and  labours  needless."    Amongst  many 
cautions  which  he  gives,   are  the  following: — 
"  Do  not  believe  all  manner  of  impulses,  or  urgent 
impressions  of  the   mind,   to  proceed  from  the 
Spirit." — "  Do  not  expect  the  influences  of  the 
spirit  of  prayer  should  be  so  vehement  as  certainly 
to  distinguish  them  from  the  motives  of  your  own 
spirit." — '*  Do  not  make  the  gift  of  prayer  the 
measure  qf  your  judgment  of  the  spirit  of  prayer." 


PREFERABLE  IN  PUBLICK  WORSHIP.  Ill 

— "  Do  not  expect  the  same  measure  of  assistance 
at  all  times  from  the  spirit  of  prayer."  Thus  far 
Dr.  Watts. 

Whilst  then  it  is  admitted  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
does  most  graciously  assist  all  true  believers  in 
this  important  duty,  yet  it  is  insisted  that  his  as- 
sistance principally  relates  to  the  excitement  of 
those  hallowed  affections  which  they  need  in  it, 
and  as  the  Spirit  of  illiuninatiGn,  by  powerfully 
suggesting  to  us  our  necessities;  and  surely  none 
will  contend  that  he  now  inspires  those  prayers 
which  may  be  extemporaneously  uttered,  else 
why  does  Dr.  W  atts  exhort  so  much  to  study  and 
pre-compose  prayers  ?  why  press  it  as  a  duty  upon 
Christians,  "  to  strive  and  labour  after  the  gift 
of  prayer?"  Greatly  important  as  in  some  in- 
stances may  be  extemporaneous  prayer,  a  liturgy 
will  still  be  found  to  possess,  in  publick  worship, 
more  decided  advantas^es. 

A  second  argument  for  the  employment  of  a 
liturgy  may  be  derived  from  necessity. 

The  MEANxNESs  OF  TALENT  possessed  by  some 
ministers,  renders  it  needful  that  such  helps  should 
be  afforded  them  for  the  edification  of  the  Church. 
It  is  an  old  proverb,  "  Omne  genus  habet  suuni 
vulgum,"  (Every  profession  has  its  little  men.) 
As  then  there  is  a  great  disparity  in  the  endow- 
ments of  mankind,  as  in  everything  few  only  can 
excel;  so,  tosuard  ao^ainst  what  is  so  common  in 
most  congregations,  the  bringing  into  contempt 
this  most  sacred  exercise,  a  prescribed  liturgy  is 
rendered  necessary. 

The  EVER-VARYING  FRAMES  and  feelings  of 
men  also  require  it.  Since  the  best,  the  most 
learned  and  talented,  sometimes  find  themselves 
in  an  unfit  state  of  mind  for  such  an  exercise  as 
e^^temporaneous  prayer;  for,  besides  slight  bodily 


112         A  PRESCRIPT  FORM  OP  PRAYER 

ailments  and  contingencies  of  human  life,  there 
are  many  circumstances,  such  as  the  weight  and 
temperature  of  the  atmosphere,  some  unaccount- 
able depression  of  spirits,  extreme  nervous  excite- 
ment, together  with  other  causes,  which  operate 
to  unhinge  the  mind,  as  all  must  acknowledge; 
indeed,  those  who  are  reputed  to  excel  most  in 
the  gift  of  prayer,  often  are  the  first  to  admit  it; 
therefore,  in  such  cases,  a  liturgy  must  be  highly 
necessary. 

The  CORRUPTIONS  AND  DEPRAVITY  of  the  hu- 
man heart  no  less  enforce  it.  For  as  the  excitement 
produced  by  a  large  assembly  sometimes  causes 
the  minister  to  enlarge  with  great  fluency,  and 
produces  much  fervour  of  temper;  so  does  this 
frequently  minister  no  smalloccasion  to  temptation 
— to  spiritual  pride  and  display.  The  pleasure 
felt  by  the  ingenuity  excited  in  such  engagements, 
is  very  frequently  mistaken  for  high  communion 
with  heaven,  when,  in  fact,  it  is  no  other  than  a 
carnal  pleasure,  such  as  is  experienced  by  the 
poet  or  the  composer,  whose  "  eye  is  in  a  fine 
phrensy  rolliii«:."  This  has  been  lamented  as  a 
source  of  trouble  in  their  self-examination,  by* 
men  the  most  godly  and  talented;  they  have 
confessed  that  it  excited  doubts  in  their  minds 
relative  to  their  true  standing  before  God,  since 
they  seldom  felt  equal  excitement  and  enlarge- 
ment in  the  private  exercises  of  devotion. 

The  DECENCIES  AND  ORDER  OF  PUBLICK  WOR- 
SHIP require  it.  It  is  acknowledged  on  all  sides, 
that  there  are  frequently  many  breaches  in  de- 
corum, arising  from  the  crudities,  to  say  the  least 
of  them,  sometimes  uttered  in  extemporaneous 
prayer,  the  ridiculous  expressions  sometimes  vent- 
ed, and,  with  some,  the  impertinent  modes  of  ad- 
dress to  the  Deity,  and  also  attempts  at  finery  of 


PHEFERABLE  IN  PUBLICK  WORSHIP  113 

language  and  display.  There  are  serious  persons, 
not  only  laymen,  to  whom  an  appeal  could  be 
made,  (who  cannot  endure  a  liturgy,)  who  have 
often  confessed  that  some  eminently  popular  preachers 
in  the  present  day,  excite  so  much  their  utter 
loathing  and  disgust  with  their  attempts  at  saying 
fine  things,  and  uttering  far-fetched  words  in  their 
prayers,  that,  instead  of  feeling  any  thing  akin  to 
devotion  in  listening  to  such  gaudy  and  meretri- 
cious performances,  they  only  sin  in  going  to  listen 
to  them  at  all. 

In  fine,  the  unity  of  the  faith  requires  it. 
There  is  no  way  in  which  a  man  can  more  easily 
instruct  his  auditors  in  his  peculiar  tenets,  than 
in  extemporaneous  prayer.  Few  persons  in  pub- 
lick  possess,  or,  to  say  the  least,  exercise  any 
other  talent  than  what  has  been  termed  ^^preach- 
ing prayer ;''''  and  when  heterodox  men  wish  in- 
sidiously to  instill  their  sentiments  upon  religion, 
it  will  be  found  that  in  such  a  way  they  most 
efll'ectually  succeed.  The  fearful  and  pestilential 
heresies,  now  so  widely  prevalent,  afford  ample 
proof  upon  this  subject.  A  liturgy  prevents  such 
a  mode  of  teaching;  it  secures  the  true  knowledge 
of  orthodox  doctrines ;  and  the  man  in  the  pulpit 
will  be  afraid  to  give  the  lie  to  the  man  in  the 
desk. 

Hence,  most  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Churches  have  had  liturgies  compiled  for  them; 
although,  for  the  most  part,  they  have  sunk  into 
desuetude.  History  informs  us  of  a  variety  of 
different  liturgies  used  in  various  churches  from 
the  earliest  days  of  Christianity.  Even  the  French 
and  Dutch  Churches  had  theirs.  **  Calvin  used  a 
form  of  prayer  himself,  and  composed  one  for  the 
Sunday  service,  which  was  afterwards  established 
at  Geneva."-— J^eza  Frefat.  ad  Com,  Calv,  in  Ja^, 

10* 


114  A  PRESCRIPT  FORM  OP  PRAYER 

In  his  letter  to  the  Lord  Protector,  in  the  reign 
of  Edward  the  Sixth,  he  thus  writes : — "  For  so 
much  as  concerns  the  forms  of  prayers  and  eccle- 
siastical rites,  I  highly  approve  that  it  be  deter- 
mined, so  as  it  may  not  be  lawful  for  the  ministry 
in  their  administrations  to  vary  from  it." — Calvin, 
Epist  87. 

Antiquity  yields  us  another  argument  for  a 
pubhck  form  of  prayer. 

There  are  few  religious  prejudices  which  are 
stronger,  or  which  take  a  firmer^  hold  on  the  mind, 
than  those  which  are  derived  from  antiquity;  but 
all  antiquity  lends  its  sanction  to  a  liturgical 
service. 

Not  to  say  any  thing  of  the  Heathen  world,  in 
whose  temples  every  scholar  knows  that  they  had 
prescribed  forms  of  worship  and  prayers  to  their 
deities — not  to  mention  these,  the  Jews,  in  their 
temples  and  synagogues,  used  prayers  long  pre- 
vious to  the  advent  of  our  Saviour,  and  they  con- 
tinue so  to  do  even  to  this  day.  It  is  admitted, 
that  many  corruptions  have  crept  into  their  liturgy; 
but  this  does  not  invalidate  the  fact;  whilst  it  is 
remarkable,  that  the  form  of  prayer  vv^hich  our 
Lord  taught  to  his  disciples,  and  wliich  is  generally 
entitled  "  The  Lord's  Prayer,"  was,  even  as  to 
its  very  words,  taken  from  different  parts  of  the 
Jewish  liturgies. 

It  is  more  than  probable,  that,  even  in  the  apos- 
tolick  age,  such  forms  obtained,  as  we  no  where 
meet  any  account  of  their  first  introduction  into 
the  Christian  Church;  and  if  such  an  innovation 
had  taken  place,  it  is  not  at  all  likely  it  would  have 
occurred  without  opposition,  and  consequently 
notice  would  have  been  taken  some  where  of  it. 
There  are  still  extant  three  liturgies,  which, 
though  corrupt,  are  ascribed  to  St.  Peter,  St. 


PREFERABLE  IN  PUBLICK  WORSHIP.  115 

Mark,  and  St.  James.  That  of  the  latter  was  of 
great  authority  in  the  days  of  Cyril,  who  wrote  a 
commentary  on  it  in  the  year  350.  Augustine, 
Tertullian,  Clemens,  and  others,  speak  in  their 
writings  of  these  liturgies.  Eusebius,  in  his  Ec- 
clesiastical History,  1.  ii.  c.  17,  tells  us  that  in 
their  forms  of  prayer  "  the  Christians  sung  verses 
responsive  to  one  another."  Nicephorus,  lib. 
xiii.  c.  28,  derives  the  responses  in  the  forms  of 
prayers  from  Ignatius ;  so  that,  for  the  first  three 
centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  there  is  sufficient 
evidence  they  were  in  use,  and  to  attempt  to 
prove  that  the  practice  obtained  subsequently,  is 
needless,  as  no  one  conversant  with  history  would 
attempt  to  dispute  it. 

But  what  adds  still  further  weight  and  import- 
ance to  the  usage,  is  the  high  sanction  which  has 
been  given  to  it  by  the  apostles  themselves,  who 
were  in  the  habit  of  frequenting  the  synagogues 
and  proseucha?,*  as  we  repeatedly  read  in  the 
Acts,  joining  with  the  Jews  in  the  solemnities  of 
their  worship,  and  in  which  their  liturgy  was 
universally  used. 

A  sanction  still  higher  than  that  of  the  apostles 
was  added  to  it  in  the  person  of  their  Lord  and 
Master,  who  not  only  frequented  the  synaofoo-ues 
during  his  earthly  ministry,  but  who  also  compiled, 
from  their  very  offices  of  devotion,  that  form  of 
prayer  which  he  taught  to  his  disciples. 

In  fine,  the  Holy  Ghost  has  set  the  seal  of  his 
sanction  upon  it,  not  only  by  blessing  it  to  the 
edification  of  the  Church,  and  preserviuir  thereby 
the  purity  of  its  doctrine,  but  also  by  employing 
it  for  the  awakening  and  conversion  of  many  who 
have  become  truly  devoted  unto  God. 

*  Rendered  by  our  translators,  "  Places  ichcre  prayer  teas  iconl  to 
be  made." 


116  A  PRESCRIPT  FORM  OF  PRAYER,    &C. 

Such  arguments,  then,  are  sufficient  to  evince 
that  a  Httirgy  is  of  great  importance  in  conduct- 
ing the  pubUck  worship  of  God.  At  the  same 
time  it  deserves  notice,  that  the  greatcist  opposers 
of  a  hturgy  use  constantly  a  printed  form  or 
liturgy  in  verse,  when  singing;  and  it  certainly 
would  be  a  difficult  thing  to  show  why  any  form 
should  be  better  for  publick  worship  when  ar- 
ranged in  metre,  than  when  arranged  in  prose. 

Nor,  in  fine,  should  it  be  unnoticed,  that  a  very 
considerable  number  oi  churches  in  England,  which 
are,  in  their  discipline  and  name.  Congregational, 
have  been  so  deeply  convinced  of  the  importance 
of  a  liturgy,  that  they  constantly  use  that  of  the 
Anghcan  Church  in  the  publick  offices  of  their 
devotion. 

It  is  admitted  that  the  constant  use  of  a  liturgy 
may  tend,  in  some  degree,  (as  is  objected  to  it,) 
to  produce  something  like  formality  in  devotion. 
This  is  a  disadvantage  necessarily  attendant  upon 
a  human  composition,  which  cannot  possibly  com- 
bine in  it  every  excellency  and  perfection.  But 
then  the  choice  is  between  the  greater  evils  of 
extemporaneous  prayer,  and  the  minor  inconve- 
nience which  may  result  from  the  constant  re- 
currence of  the  same  words;  an  inconvenience 
from  which  extemporaneous  prayer  is  not  alto- 
gether exempt ;  so  that  the  preponderancy  of  dis- 
advantage must  be  on  the  side  of  the  latter. 

So  deeply  was  the  writer  of  these  letters  con- 
vinced of  this  truth,  that  for  some  years  before 
he  quitted  his  native  land,  (although  he  used,  in 
addition,  an  extemporaneous  prayer,)  he  regularly 
used  in  the  church  over  which  he  presided,  the 
liturgical  service  of  the  Church  of  England.. 


LETTER   VIII. 

SURPASSING  EXCELLENCE  OF  THE  AMERICAN 
EPISCOPAL  LITURGY. 


Right  Rev.  and  dear  Sir, 

The  point  being  once  established,  that  a  liturgical 
service  is  of  importance  to  the  Church  of  Christ, 
it  becomes  a  subject  of  interesting  inquiry,  which 
is  that  portion  of  the  Church  whose  liturgy  is  the 
most  appropriate,  and  distinguished  by  characters 
of  the  greatest  excellency.  An  impartial  exami- 
nation will  not  fail,  in  the  view  of  the  writer 
hereof,  to  result  in  attributing  this  meed  of  ap- 
probation to  the  American  Episcopal  Church. 
Undoubtedly,  in  this  respect,  she  has  attained  the 
pre-eminence  even  over  her  mother,  the  Anglican 
Church,  inasmuch  as  the  formulary  of  the  daughter 
has  been  depurated  from  those  little  imperfections 
(as  some  have  considered  them)  which  have 
adhered  to  that  of  the  parent.  Be  this  as  it  may, 
whatever  is  requisite  to  excite  toward  a  liturgy 
our  respect,  and  to  claim  for  it  our  decided 
attachment  and  steady  adherence,  is  in  her  for- 
mulary and  Common  Prayer  to  be  found. 

Are  UNITY  AIVD  80CL\BIL1TY  necessary  char- 
acteristicks  of  publick  worship?  In  her  services 
they  are  especially  to  be  found.  A  temple  carries 
with  it  the  idea  of  a  happy,  harmonious,  united 
society,  meeting  together  in  one  point  of  attrac- 


118  SURPASSING  EXCELLENCE  OF  THE 

tion,  influenced  by  a  community  of  interest,  feel- 
ing, and  hope ;  cemented  together  by  the  firmest 
bonds ;  improving,  exalting,  and  refining  the 
sweetest  charities  of  the  human  bosom.  Other 
engagements  may  draw  mankind  together  ;  com- 
merce, pleasure,  or  various  other  motives ;  but 
no  engagement  will  place  them  on  so  equal  and 
important  a  footing,  unite  them  in  relations  so 
engaging,  animate  them  with  views  so  exalted 
and  dignified,  and  assimilate  or  bind  them  to- 
gether so  closely,  as  the  publick  services  of 
reliction. 

The  closet  is  the  place  for  secret  converse  with 
God,  where  the  believer  may  be  prepared  for 
publick  and  social  engagements.  The  church, 
however,  is  not  the  place  for  solitary,  but  social 
engagement ;  there  the  joys  of  each  are  redoubled 
by  participation;  there  the  rays  of  devotion  are 
reflected  from  face  to  face,  like  those  whicii 
emanated  from  the  countenance  of  Moses  when 
he  held  communion  with  God;  there  the  zeal  of 
each  one  adds  fervour  to  that  of  his  brethren; 
there  the  solitary,  "  My  Father  and  my  God"  is 
exchanged  for  the  social,  "  Our  Father  and  our 
God,"  whilst  the  united  prayers  and  praises, 
blending  together,  ascend  like  one  stream  of 
incense  before  the  eternal  throne. 

Hence,  in  this  beautiful  liturgy,  all  the  wor- 
shippers take  their  part ;  every  one  is  engaged  ; 
instead  of  leaving  it  to  their  minister,  as  their 
proxy,  to  ofter  up  for  them  alone  the  sacrifice, 
the  meanest  as  well  as  the  highest  of  the  assem- 
bly participates  therein ;  the  babe  who  can  but 
lisp  the  praises  of  the  Most  High,  as  well  as  the 
hoary  pilgrim  whose  head  has  been  silvered  o'er 
by  time,  all  blend  their  voices  in  the  solemn  ex- 
ercise, and   uttering  their   diflferent  parts   and 


AMERICAN  EPISCOPAL  LITURGY.  119 

alternate  responses,  feel  an  equal  interest  in  the 
same  important  engagements  ;  presenting  an  im- 
age of  that  blissful  state,  where  the  multitude 
"  out  of  every  nation,  kindred,  and  tongue, '*''  offer 
their  united  homage — where,  loud  as  the  sound 
of  many  waters  and  the  voice  of  mighty  thunder- 
ings,  they  tender  one  song  of  praise  unto  the 
slaughtered  Lamb. 

Are    SIMPLICITY    and   plainness   necessary 
characteristicks  of  publick  worship?     Where  can 
we  find  any  thing  more  artless  ?    Rhetoricians  will 
tell  us  that  the  very  first  perfection  of  language  is 
its  clearness;  and  surely,  if  this  excellency  ought 
any  where  to  be  found,  it  should  be  in  such  a 
service.     Its  expression  should  be  adapted  to  the 
meanest  capacity ;  yet  its  language  should  be  so 
conceived    as  to  be  rich   and    magnificent,    and 
suited  to  the  subject;  so  easy,  that  those  who  are 
least  versed  in  the  school  of  Christ  may,  without 
difficulty,  comprehend  it ;  and  yet  so  dignified,  that 
it  may  not  debase  the  most  glorious  and  exalted 
conceptions.     And  is   not   this  the   case   in  this 
liturgy?     In  it  we  meet  no  vrords  adorned  with 
studied    eloquence — no    magnificent    metaphors 
dazzling  the  fancy — the  ear  is  not  delighted  by 
the   highly  wrought  harmony   of  well  cadenced 
periods — the  mind  is  not  diverted  by  the  brilliancy 
of  far-fetched  thoughts — all  is  noble,  without  af- 
fectation— all  is  simple,  without  being  mean:  on 
one  part,   the  addresses  to  the  3Iost  High  are 
worthy  the  power  and  the  love  of  the  God  whom 
we  adore;  and  on  the  other  part,  all  the  expres- 
sions are  suited  to  the  condition  of  the  fallen  and 
repentant  creature  who  is  too  deeply  penetrated 
with  a  sense  of  his  condition  to  be  in  too  much 
concern  about  the  words  he  employs — it  is  the 
language  of  the  heart,  which  speaks  by  the  mouth 


120       SURPASSING  EXCELLENCE  Of   THE 

—it  is  the  earnestness  of  the  simple  soul,  which 
gives  utterance  to  its  desires — it  is  not  the  elo- 
quence of  sentences,  but  of  feeling-^it  is  "  the  cry 
of  faith  to  the  ear  of  mercy." 

Are  WISDOM  and  comprehensiveness  neces- 
sary charcteristicks  of  a  publick  service?  Here, 
then,  shall  we  find  them ;  since  there  is  nothing 
which  can  possibly  constitute  our  converse  with 
God  but  is  here  expressed.  What  sins  can  we 
be  chargeable  with,  but  in  it  are  confessed  ?  What 
lust  torment  us,  but  in  it  is  deplored?  What  evil 
can  we  dread,  but  in  it  is  deprecated?  What 
blessing  can  we  desire,  but  in  it  is  acknowledged? 
What  hope  can  we  cherish,  but  in  it  is  uttered  ? 
In  a  word,  there  is  no  situation  in  which  we  can 
be  placed,  no  character  or  relation  we  can  sustain, 
no  difficulty  we  may  encounter,  no  affliction  we 
may  experience,  no  burden  under  which  we  may 
groan,  but  we  find  language  therein  in  which  our 
complaint  is  vented  before  God.  There  is  no 
desire  we  can  cherish — whether  for  time  or  eter* 
nity — for  pardon,  for  peace,  for  purity — but  is 
thereby  presented  before  God.  There  is  no 
pleasurable  delight  we  can  experience,  whether 
of  temporal  prosperity  or  spiritual  joy,  but  we 
have  language  put  into  our  lips  suited  to  our  case. 
It  seems  as  if  the  wisdom  of  the  best  and  hoHest 
of  men  had  been  concentrated  to  construct  this 
beauteous  liturgy;  as  if,  like  Solomon  of  old,  who 
brought  from  Pares  its  marble,  from  Lebanon  its 
cedars,  from  Ophir  its  gold,  from  Egypt  its  linen, 
from  India  its  jewels,  from  Arabia  its  perfume, 
from  Tyre  its  purple  and  its  workmen,  and  in-" 
deed  from  all  the  world  its  choicest  materials,  to 
construct  and  embellish  a  magnificent  temple;  it 
seems  as  if,  like  him,  the  compilers  of  this  liturgy 
had  searched  every  clime  and  country,  had  ex- 


AMERICAN  EPISCOPAL  LITURGY.'  121 

amined  every  case  and  condition  of  mankind,  and 
then  that  from  all,  and  for  all,  they  had  con- 
structed this  apt,  symmetrical,  and  comprehensive 
service  for  the  temple  of  Messiah. 

Are  BREVITY  AND  CONCISENESS  necessary  char- 
acteristicks  of  a  publick  ritual?  These  are  also 
here.  In  all  forms  of  language,  conciseness  is 
desirable,  but  especially  in  the  addresses  we  pre- 
sent to  Almighty  God.  If  we  would  avoid  the 
defects  which  are  inevitable  to  mortality,  our 
prayers  should  be  short.  Little  do  they  know  of 
the  nature  of  the  human  mind,  who  suppose  that 
it  is  capable  of  maintaining  long  those  abstractions 
which  call  it  away  from  earth,  and  which  carry 
it  toward  heaven.  Our  senses  and  inclinations 
too  heavily  gravitate  to  this  world,  to  permit  a 
long  and  vigorous  flight  toward  eternal  objects. 
We  constantly  complain  of  distractions ;  we  are 
interrupted  perpetually,  like  Abraham,  by  those 
flights  of  birds  which  hover  around  and  pollute 
our  sacrifices;  we  are  too  fastlv  chained  to  the 
cumbrous  loads  of  mortality  and  sense,  to  obtain 
many  minutes  for  a  continuous  effort  in  prayer — 
we  groan  under  the  languors  beneath  which  we 
struggle,  and  we  long  for  deliverance.  But  for 
these  imperfections  a  remedy  is  provided  in  the 
brevity  of  these  addresses  to  the  throne  of  grace. 
Our  weakness,  our  languors,  our  distractions,  are 
provided  for  by  the  shortness  of  the  exercises  and 
the  recurrence  of  the  topics ;  what  is  wanting  in 
length,  is  made  up  for  in  frequency.  The  con- 
ciseness of  the  prayers  facilitates  our  devotions; 
they  become,  each  one,  a  sort  of  resting-place,  so 
that  we  ascend  from  step  to  step  of  this  sacred 
ladder  which  unites  earth  with  heaven. 

Are  VARIETY  AND  DIVERSITY  nccessary  charac- 
teristicks  for  a  liturgical  service  .'*     Here  may  we 

11 


12^  SURPASSING  EXCELLENCE  OF  THE 

find  them.     In  nature  we  are  delighted  with  the 
diversity  which  every  where  obtains,  and  this  in- 
cessant variation  adds  to  its  beauty  and  enhances 
the  pleasure  with  which  we  gaze  upon  every  scene. 
One  uniform  monotonous  prospect  would  speedily 
tire  and  fatigue  us.     Hence,  the  Creator,  to  re- 
lieve and  to  gratify  us,  has  caused  hills  and  valleys 
to  intersect  each  other;  he  has  covered  the  earth 
with  trees,  and  shrubs,  and  plants,  and  flowers, 
endlessly  differing  in. variety  and  beauty;  he  has 
chequered  the  whole  with  lights  and  shadows ; 
he  has  instituted  the  succession  of  day  and  night, 
and  caused  the  seasons  perpetually  to  alternate  : 
thus  he  relieves  our  tedium,  and  exhilarates  our 
hearts.     In  like   manner  the  compilers  of  this 
excellent  liturgy  seem  deeply  to  have  been  ac- 
quainted with  our  nature,  and  to  have  studied, 
for  imitation,  the  works  of  Deity.     They  have  so 
constructed  it,   that  whilst  its  addresses  to  Al- 
mighty God  are  so  brief  that  they  do  not  tire,  and 
so  comprehensive  that  they  take  in  all  our  circum- 
stances ;  they  are  so  diversified  that  they  relieve 
us,  and  lead  gradually  on  from  one  part  of  devo- 
tion to  another — from  the  expression  of  one  desire 
to   another — from   the  acknowledgment  of  one 
mercy  to  another — from  the  contemplation  and 
adoration  of  one  attribute  to  another ;   in  fine, 
from  the  deepest  abasement  of  humility  to  the 
highest  exultation  of  hope.     Nor  are  these  tran- 
sitions sudden,  broken,  or  precipitate ;  but  gentle 
and  easy,  like  the  colours  of  the  rainbow,  dye 
melting  into  dye — like  the  perspective  of  a  land- 
scape, shade  melting  into  shade.     It  has  thrown 
all  around  it  all  the  beauty  and  charms  of  exqui- 
cite  variety. 

Are  SPIRITUALITY  AND  SANCTITY  nccessary  to 
diaracterize  a  publick  formulary?    In  this  the 


AMERICAN  EPISCOPAL  LITURGY.  1^3 

liturgy  pre-eminently  abounds.  So  replete  is  it 
with  Scripture,  that  the  beautiful  psalmody  of  the 
ancient  temple  is  perpetually  vibrating  in  it  its 
melodies — that  the  whole  record  of  divine  revela- 
tion, in  the  very  words  of  their  inspired  writers, 
are  in  the  course  of  the  year  brought  into  the 
audience  of  the  people — that  the  great  object  of 
all  its  addresses  to  Deity  refers  to  the  immortal 
spirit,  or  to  temporal  affairs  only  in  subserviency 
to  it.  If,  to  render  our  emotions  spiritual,  they 
should  be  regulated  by  a  sense  of  our  conditio?!,  the 
liturgy  leads  us  to  the  most  deep  and  pungent  ac- 
knowledgments of  our  guilt  and  misery,  in  the 
language  of  its  confessional  and  prayers.  If,  to 
render  our  devotions  spiritual,  they  should  be 
regulated  by  the  grandeur  of  our  interests,  vyhere 
shall  we  find  prayers  more  wise  and  suitable? — 
no  petition  is  breathed  for  those  riches  of  earth 
which  so  dazzle  the  eyes,  and  bewilder  the  mind, 
and  corrupt  the  heart;  no  petition  is  breathed  for 
those  sensual  enjoyments  which  captivate  the 
senses  and  degrade  the  soul ;  no  petition  is  breath- 
ed for  the  pomps,  and  glories,  and  dignities  of  this 
world,  of  which  "  the  pageant  passeth  awaif — they 
refer  only  to  "  the  things  ichich  are  unseen  and 
eternaV — to  pardon,  and  purity,  and  meetness  for 
the  inheritance  above.  If,  to  render  our  prayers 
spiritual,  they  should  be  regulated  hy  i\\Q;  genius  of 
the  Gospel,  which  requires  detachment  from  the 
world,  moderation  in  our  desires,  and  exalted 
sanctity  of  mind,  to  what  else  tends  the  liturgy  in 
its  exhortations,  its  rites,  its  hymns,  its  praises, 
and  its  prayers,  but  "  to  make  clean  our  hearts 
within  usT'*  If,  to  render  our  devotions  spiritual, 
they  should  be  regulated  by  the  divine  promises — 
if  the  will  of  God  should  be  the  rule  of  our  requests 
and  desires — does  not  the  liturgy  ground  all  its 


124  SURPASSING  EXCELLENCE  OP  THE 

petitions  and  services  upon  this  very  foundation  ? 
Does  it  not  remind  God  of  his  promises,  when  it 
tells  him,  he  "  hath  declared  that  he  desireth  not  the 
death  of  a  sinner^^ — that  he  hath  "  promised  that 
where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  his  name^ 
lie  will  hear  their  rcquestsT^  Does  it  not  uniformly 
urge,  as  the  ground  of  hope  and  confidence,  the 
merits  and  mediation  of  the  Redeemer  ?  If,  in 
fine,  to  render  our  devotions  spiritual,  they  should 
be  regulated  by  the  character  of  God,  does  not  the 
liturgy,  in  its  use,  bring  before  us  every  perfection 
and  attribute  by  which  he  is  adorned  ?  Does  it 
not  express  every  emotion  of  spirit  to  which  that 
attribute  lays  claim — of  fear,  of  reverence,  of  es- 
teem, of  humility,  of  confidence,  of  gi'atitude, 
fidelity,  and  love?  It  magnifies  him  as  the  Being 
in  whom  unite  every  excellency;  who  ought  alone 
to  possess  all  the  allegiance  of  our  hearts,  and  who, 
as  the  rightful  Sovereign  of  all  creatures,  sits  en- 
throned irl  inconceivable  glory  upon  the  riches  of 
the  universe. 

Are  FERVOUR  and  pathos  necessary  charac- 
teristicks  of  a  publick  formulary  ?  No  composition 
can  surpass  the  liturgy  in  this  respect;  there  is 
in  every  prayer  something  that  is  exquisitely 
touching.  Some  of  them  are  peculiarly  earnest 
and  impassioned,  whilst  the  litany  breathes  a 
devotion  so  intense,  that  it  is  impossible  for  lan- 
guage to  express  more  strongly  the  agony  of  a 
soul  who  wrestles  in  prayer.  In  its  confessions 
it  expresses  a  spirit  of  penitential  sorrow,  giving 
utterance  to  the  deep  humility  and  poignant  an- 
guish of  a  broken  heart.  In  its  petitions  it  ex- 
presses a  spirit  oi holy  desire  panting  for  a  sense 
of  pardoned  guilt,  a  spirit  of  decided  preference 
for  the  blessings  of  religion,  a  spirit  of  humble 
submission  to  the  appointments  of  Providence.   In 


AMERICAN  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  125 

its  sacred  hymns  it  expresses  a  spirit  of  zeal  for 
the  divine  glory,  anxious  that  all  creatures  may  be 
united  in  celebrating  his  praise.  In  its  interces- 
sions it  expresses  a  spirit  oi  charity^  supplicating 
blessings  not  only  upon  the  Church  at  large,  but 
also  upon  all  mankind.  A  sacred  fervour  pervades 
the  whole,  not  the  wild  fire  of  fanaticism,  but  of 
sober,  serious  piety;  it  resembles  not  a  fire  of 
straw  blazing  with  fury,  and  as  transient  too,  but 
the  sacred  flame  kindled  from  on  high  on  the  altar 
of  the  tabernacle,  pure,  steady,  and  constant, 
ascending  acceptably  unto  God. 

Are  ORDER  Ai\D  DISTRIBUTION  necessary  cha- 
racteristicks  of  a  publick  formulary  ?     Impossible 
is  it  that  a  liturgy  could  be  better  arranged  or 
more  naturally  formed:  commencing  with  an  ac- 
knowledgment of  our  misery  and  guilt  before  the 
throne  of  the  Divine  Majesty — proceeding  with  a 
comfortable  ministerial  publication  of  the  divine 
mercy  to  the  penitent — this  again  followed  with 
prayer  and  animated  praise — these  engagements 
succeeded  by  lessons  from  both  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  each  of  which,  in  turn,  is  followed 
by  hymns  of  thanksgiving — then  the  publick  and 
solemn  avowal  of  our  belief — then  a  succession  of 
brief  and  comprehensive  prayers,  with  the  litany 
enkindling  at  every  step  still  higher  feelings,  till, 
at  leno-th,   the  overflowing  heart  vents  itself  in 
charitable  intercessions  and  gratulatory  acknow- 
ledgments to  *'  the  Giver  of  all  good ^     Blind  in- 
deed, and  insensible  to  whatever  is  orderly  and 
beautiful,  must  he  be,  who  does  not  admire  this 
arrangement   and   disposition.      It   is   the   very 
thing  which  rhetoricians  declare  to  be  at  once  so 
charming  and  yet  so  difficult  to  accomplish — a 
regular  and  happy  climax.     It  is  an  imitation  of 
the  volume  of  divine  revelation  itself,  in  which 

II* 


126  SURPASSING  EXCELLENCE  OP  THE 

the  mind  is  led  up,  by  gradations,  from  con- 
templating the  misery  of  a  fallen  world,  to  enter 
with  the  seer  of  the  Apocalypse  into  the  visions 
of  God. 

Are  CEREMONIES  AND  OBSERVANCES  necessary 
characteristicks  of  a  publick  formulary?     This 
they  must  be,  since  a  worship  which  is  solely 
spiritual,  and  which  does  not  partake  of  corporeal 
forms  and  rites,  would  be  unsuited  to  our  present 
state.     To  an  invisible  world  it  may  be  adapted, 
but  not  to  merely  human  beings.     We  are  com- 
pound creatures.    We  are  constructed  of  earthly 
as  well  as  heavenly  materials  ;  of  body  as  well  as 
of  spirit.     Our  only  knowledge  of  spiritual  objects 
is  obtained  by  means  of  those  which  are  corporeal ; 
hence,  to  be  suited  to  our  nature,  a  sanctuary 
service  must  have  signs,  and  symbols,  and  ordi- 
nances.    This  is  evident,  also,  from  the  very  in- 
stitutions and  sacraments  of  our  Lord;   besides, 
by  the  actions  of  our  body  the  spirit  expresses  its 
sentiments   and  feelings  as  well    as    by   words. 
Philosophers  have  therefore  called  actions,   na- 
tural language;  but  words  they  have  designated, 
artificial  language.     Our   inward  emotions  will 
ever  discover  themselves  by  our  exterior  gesture 
and  conduct.     Justly,  therefore,  has  the  Church 
enlisted  into  her  liturgical  service  the   body  as 
well  as  the  spirit,  and  required  its  posture  to  be 
altered  according  to  the  nature  of  the  service  in 
which  we  engage:  enjoining  especially,  that  in 
the  more  humble  and  adoring  services  with  genu- 
flections we  should  appear  in  the  divine  presence. 
This  posture  Scripture  represents  as  the  most 
befitting  for  adoration  and  invocation.     By  Isaiah 
Jehovah  speaks,  and  says,  "  Ihaveswornhy  myself^ 
and  the  word  is  gone  out  of  my  mouthy  that  to  me 
every  knee  shall  bow.^^     In  like  manner  St.  Paul 


AMERICAN  EPISCOPAL  LITURGY.  127 

tells  US  of  the  Saviour,  "  that  at  his  name  every 
knee  should  how ;''''  whilst  David  says,  "  Ocome^let 
us  ivorship  and  kneel,  let  us  bow  before  the  Lord  our 
Maker.''''  St.  Paul  tells  the  Ephesians  that  this 
was  his  practice — '*  For  this  cause  I  bow  my  knee 
to  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  f^ 
whilst  the  example  of  the  Master  himself,  in 
Gethsemane,  should  be  a  warrant  for  every 
Christian. 

Are — but  whither  am  I  going?  Already  are 
these  letters  swoln  to  too  great  an  extent,  and 
time  would  fail  me  to  set  forth  the  sublimity  and 
grandeur  of  some  of  its  compositions,  the  beauty 
of  its  apostrophes,  the  energy  of  its  pleadings, 
with  other  excellencies  which  stud  this  galaxy  of 
light,  this  stream  of  mild  and  lovely  radiancy, 
which  leads  to  upper  and  to  better  worlds.  In- 
deed it  is  not  easy  adequately  to  set  forth  the 
excellencies  of  this  composition,  in  which  the 
Church  may  exult  and  say,  in  grateful  praise  to 
God,  "  Thou  hast  given  a  banner  to  them  that  fear 
thee,  that  it  may  be  displayed  because  of  thy  truth,'''' 

These,  Sir,  are  some  of  the  many  reasons  of  my 
conformity  to  the  Church  of  which  you  are  a  Pre- 
late ;  a  Church  which  appears  to  me  to  be  destined 
to  a  work  of  high  eminence  and  distinction  in  ad- 
vancing the  glorious  cause  of  the  Redeemer;  to 
maintain,  amidst  desolating  heresies  and  fanati- 
cism, the  purity  of  the  faith;  and  to  reclaim 
wanderers  to  the  fold  of  "  the  great  Shcplicrd  of 
the  sheep.'''' 

Amidst  the  convulsions  of  the  moral  world,  the 
contending  elements  of  human  j)assions,  and  the 
gigantick  march  of  infidelity  and  heresy,  I  think  I 
see  her  rise,  not  like  that  frightful  and  heteroge- 
neous image  which,  in  his  dreams,  j)resented 
itself  before  the  enfreuzied  imagination  of  Ne- 


138         EXCELLENCE  OF  THE  AMERICAN  LITURGY. 

buchadnezzar,  whose  head  was  of  gold,  whose 
breast  was  of  silver,  whose  thighs  were  of  brass, 
and  whose  legs  were  of  iron  and  perishable  clay; 
beneath  whose  frown  nations  should  wither,  but 
with  whose  downfall  the  universe  should  resound, 
— no!  I  think  I  see  her  rise  like  some  majestick 
watch-tower  founded  upon  the  Rock  of  Ages,  and 
holding  forth,  amidst  the  night  of  moral  darkness, 
"  the  light  of  life^''  to  the  mariner,  buffeted  and 
tempest-tossed  on  the  sea  of  time — like  that  lofty 
mountain  upon  whose  summit  reposed  the  ark, 
beneath  whose  base   the  mightiest   monarchies 
have  mouldered  into  ruins,   and  around  whose 
summit  eternity  might  play;  or,  rather  like  that 
blessed  tree  beheld  by  the  seer  of  the  Apocalypse, 
in  the  visions  of  the  Almighty,  whose  root  was 
watered  by  "  the  river  of  water  of  life ^^"^  '-'-  yielding 
its  fruit  every  month,  and  shedding  its  leaves  for  the 
healing  of  the  7iatio?is.^^     She  may,  indeed,  be  as- 
sailed by  the  sneers  of  the  infidel,  the  malignity  of 
the  bigot,  and  the  persecutions  of  the  ungodly;  but 
"  against  her  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail ;^^ 
to  her  justly  may  be  applied  the  language,  other- 
wise unsuitably  employed,  of  a  Heathen  poet,  that 
she  stands 

-Monumentum  sere  perennius, 


Regalique  situ  Pyramldum  altias; 
Quod  non  imber  edax,  non  Aquilo  impotens 
Possit  diruere,  ant  innumerabiiis 
Aunorura  series,  et  tuga  temporum." 

Horace. 


LETTER   IX. 

CONCLUDING. 


Right  Rev.  and  dear  Sir, 

In  the  preceding  letters  I  have  laid  before  you, 
with  as  much  brevity  as  possible,  the  principal 
reasons  which  have  enforced  upon  my  mind  the 
conviction  that  Episcopacy  is  the  divinely  ap- 
pointed mode  of  government  of  the  Church  of 
Christ.  In  presenting  to  you  this  detail,  I  have 
purposely  omitted  many  arguments  of  less  mo- 
ment, leading  to  the  same  conclusion,  only  lest  I 
should  swell  this  little  work  to  v/hat  might  per- 
haps be  considered  an  unreasonable  magnitude. 
Especially,  in  so  doing,  have  I  passed  by  an 
argument  which  might  be  adduced  from  the 
analogy  subsisting  between  all  the  works  of  God, 
and  which  strikes  me  as  affording,  if  not  demon- 
stration, at  least  something  like  presumptive 
evidence,  upon  the  subject  under  review. 

Some  theoloijians  have  undertaken  to  demon- 
strate  the  truth  of  divine  revelation  from  the 
analogy  subsisting  between  it  and  the  other  pro- 
ductions of  its  divine  Author;  and  although  I 
have  never  yet  seen  any  argument  in  iavour  of 
Episcopacy  derived  from  the  same  source,  yet  it 
strikes  me  that  such  an  argument  would  tend 
strongly  to  its  support ;  and  much  should  I  like 
to  gee  the  subject  handled  by  a  better  pen  than 


130  CONCLUDING  LETTER. 

mine,  as  I  anticipate  such  an  argument  would 
tend  deeply  to  strengthen  my  convictions,  that 
parity  is  utterly  unknown  in  all  the  works  of 
Deity. 

There  are  certain  characteristick  features 
which  mark  the  works  of  every  being,  so  that, 
by  careful  examination  of  each  production,  we 
may  ascertain  its  author.  Thus  a  Grecian  statu- 
ary Avould,  in  looking  at  a  group  of  figures,  select 
the  performance  of  each  individual  author ;  he 
would  say,  This  is  a  Phidias,  and  that  is  a 
Praxiteles.  A  connoisseur,  in  examining  a  gal- 
lery of  paintings,  would  say.  This  is  a  Guido,  and 
that  a  Raphael  or  a  Titian.  A  poet  will  easily 
discern  between  a  drama  of  Shakspeare  and  one 
of  Addison's.  History  tells  us  of  a  painter  at 
Athens,  who  one  day  called  to  see  another  artist, 
but  as  he  was  not  at  home,  the  servant  requested 
him  to  leave  his  name;  upon  which,  taking  in 
his  hand  the  painter's  pencil,  he  drew  a  line  upon 
his  canvass,  ^'  Tell  your  master,"  said  he  to  the 
servant,  "  that  it  was  the  man  who  drew  this 
line  that  called  to  see  him."  On  his  return,  the 
painter  needed  no  further  information :  "  I  know," 
said  he,  "  who  it  was,  for  only  one  man  exists 
who  could  draw  such  a  line." 

Upon  this  principle  men  are  accustomed  to 
reason  in  arguing  upon  the  productions  of  human 
skill,  and  the  mode  of  reasoning  is  allowed  to 
be  vahd.  Upon  the  same  principle  has  it  been 
contended,  that  the  book  which  professes  to  have 
God  for  its  author,  is  the  product  of  his  inspiration. 
It  is  contended,  that,  possessing  characters  of 
resemblance  to  the  works  of  nature  and  the  dis- 
pensations of  Providence,  revelation  is  by  analogy 
evinced  to  be  from  God.  And  surely  if  Phidias 
could  so  construct  the  shield  of  Minerva  that  all 


CONCLUDING  LETTER.  131 

who  gazed  upon  it  must  see  that  by  his  art  the 
sculptor  had  engraved  his  own  likeness  thereon, 
it  cannot  be  strans^e  that  Jehovah  should  so  im- 
press  his  own  image  upon  all  his  works,  as  that 
universally  it  must  be  seen. 

But  no  where,  in  all  the  works  of  Deity,  do  we 
perceive  any  thing  like  parity.  Endless  variety 
and  interminable  gradations  every  where  exist. 
From  the  brightest  intellectual  spirit,  who  bows 
before  the  awful  splendour  of  the  eternal  throne, 
down  to  the  little  glow-worm  that  kindles  its 
glimmering  taper  under  the  hedge,  nay,  down 
to  the  minutest  animalcule  of  creation,  which 
escapes  our  unaided  vision,  there  is  an  unbroken 
concatenation  of  links;  yet  all  existins^  in  different 
gradations,  according  to  the  appointment  of  the 
Supreme  Ruler  of  the  universe.  Amongst  all 
the  animated  creatures  of  this  world  which  exist 
in  a  state  of  society,  whether  irrational  or  rational, 
there  are  various  orders  and  degrees,  officers 
and  rulers.  Revelation  tells  us  the  same  of  the 
heavenly  world  ;  it  represents  the  angels  as  ex- 
isting in  different  degrees  of  subordination  ;  it 
describes  them  as  "  thrones  and  dominions^  prin- 
cipalities ami  powers,^^  Whilst  Clemens  Alex- 
andrinus,  Aretas  in  his  Commentary  on  the 
Apocalypse,  and  St.  Irenaeus,  (as  quoted  by  Da 
Bosc,)  and  others  of  the  first  and  oldest  teachers 
of  Christianity,  speak  much  of  the  celestial  hier- 
archy— of  tlieir  different  orders,  officers,  names, 
and  degrees  of  authority  and  rule,  so  that  nothing 
like  parity  is  to  be  found  in  that  upper  world. 

The  system  of  parity,  then,  for  which  some 
so  vehemently  contend  in  the  Church,  bears  no 
analogy  to  the  other  appointments  of  Deity  :  and 
this  fact  affords  something  like  presumption  that 
it  was  not  by  him  appointed.     But  upon  this  I 


152  CONCLUDING  LETTER. 

have  only  glanced,  being  fully  aware  that,  had  I 
adduced  it  as  an  argument,  it  would  have  been 
selected  by  the  enemies  of  Episcopacy,  not  only 
to  the  disparagement,  but  neglect,  of  the  powerful 
testimonies  I  have  adduced. 

I  trust  that  I  have  not  indulged  in  any  thing 
like  unhallowed  feeling  in  the  temper  which 
characterizes  these  letters ;  my  opposition  has 
been  to  opinions,  not  to  men.  For  my  brethren 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  I  have  cherished, 
and  will  still  cherish,  the  warmest  and  most 
affectionate  regard ;  I  shall  ever  love  their  per- 
sons, though  I  may  be  compelled,  from  conviction, 
to  differ  from  their  sentiments.  There  are  some 
with  whom  I  have  the  happiness  to  be  acquainted, 
whom  1  esteem  for  their  virtues,  and  revere  for 
their  piety  ;  who  cordially  welcomed  me  on  my 
arrival  in  this  country,  opened  to  me  their  pulpits, 
and,  by  many  expressions  of  regard,  made  me 
feel  that  1  was -not  in  a  land  of  strangers,  but  at 
home.  Such  men  1  shall  never  cease  to  love, 
and  can  only  regret  that  "upon  this  point  (a  point 
to  me  of  no  minor  importance)  we  cannot  "  see 
eye  to  eye.'''' 

If  of  the  v/ritings  of  one  individual  I  have 
spoken  in  terms  which  may  to  some  appear  too 
strong,  allow  me  to  say  1  have  of  him  no  personal 
knowledge,  and  consequently  entertain  towards 
him  no  personal  ill-will.  I  never  heard  his  name 
till  I  became  acquainted  with  his  writings.  But 
when  I  saw  such  unfairness  in  his  quotations, 
such  gross  misrepresentations  of  historical  facts, 
such  needless  vituperation  of  his  opponents,  (who 
to  me  seemed  writing,  if  with  warmth,  yet  not 
without  courteousness,)  that  by  this  "  ruse  de 
guerre"  he  might  awaken  the  sympathies  of  his 
Presbyterian  readers,  of  whom  he  knew  not  one 


CONCLUDING  LETTER.  133 

in  a  hundred  would  ever  rend  tlie  opposite  party's 
statements,  I  confess  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  speak 
plainly  upon  the  subject.  If  Moses  felt  indignant 
at  witnessing  the  misconduct  of  Aaron  in  the 
matter  of  the  golden  calf — if  a  greater  than  he 
expressed  a  similar  feeling  at  the  desecration  of 
the  temple — if  Protestants  all  join  in  expressions 
of  indignation  at  the  impositions  of  the  Romish 
clergy,  which  have  been  called  '•''  pious  frauds,'''' 
then  1  cannot  think  I  have  acted  unchristianly  in 
speaking,  in  the  softest  terms  which  honesty 
would  allow,  of  one  who,  if  he  be  a  learned  man, 
should  never  have  so  misrepresented  facts;  or  if 
he  be  not,  should  not  so  dogmatically  have  pre- 
tended to  be  master  of  the  subject. 

Fully  am  I  aware  that  the  majority  of  Presby- 
terians have  never  examined  impartially  both 
sides  of  the  question.  I  speak  from  experience. 
Never,  till  my  arrival  in  this  country,  had  1  fully 
done  so  myself.  I  have  conversed  with  many  of 
the  laity  among  Presbyterians  in  this  country, 
who  have  read  the  works  of  the  Presbyterian 
advocates  referred  to  in  these  letters,  and  who 
have  told  me  how  triumphantly  they  refuted  their 
opponents;  yet  not  one  of  whom,  upon  seriously 
questioning  them,  but  admitted  to  me  they  had 
never  read  a  single  work  on  the  opposite  side. 
Perhaps  1  should  not  err,  if  I  said  also  that 
very  many  of  the  clergy,  in  this  respect,  closely 
resemble  them;  and  this  I  say,  not  by  way  of 
reproach  to  them,  for  well  I  know  they  consider 
(as  once  the  writer  did)  that  it  would  be  time 
lost  to  examine  the  arguments  adduced  by  the 
opponents  of  a  system  which  they  fully  believe  to 
be  divinely  instituted;  Ihcy  act  from  the  deep 
convictions  of  their  consciences.  Whilst,  theq, 
1  also  most  conscientiously  withdraw  myself  from 

12 


134  CONCLUDING  LETTER. 

their  communion,  still  will  I  enshrine  their  names 
in  my  heart — I  will  hail  them  as  my  fellow- 
Christians — I  will  rejoice  in  their  success  in  win- 
ning souls  from  the  common  enemy,  and  directing 
them  to  Christ,  as  the  alone  Saviour,  I  will  take 
as  mine,  the  motto  of  an  ancient  bishop: — 
"  In  necessariis,  unitas;  in  non  necessa- 

llllS,    LIBERTAS  ;     IN    OMNIBUS,' CHARITAS."       In 

things  necessary,  unity;  in  things  unnecessary, 
liberty ;  in  all  things,  charity. 


THE  END. 


ERRATUM. 
Page  54,  last  line,  for  '  Parker''  read  Abbot. 


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